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Rita Bellew, of Hatboro, has been charged with ethnic intimidation and harassment following her rant that went viral at Amy's Pizzeria on Feb. 23 in Hatboro last week, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Hatboro Police Chief James E. Gardner said.
"The video shows Bellew berating the staff of the restaurant with a profane, racially fueled tirade. Bellew was apparently triggered, at least in part, by a Spanish broadcast being shown on television in the restaurant," Gardner and Steele said.
Bellew sprinkled in lots of F-bombs while telling workers in Amy's Pizzeria in Hatboro to "learn English."
"You want to have Spanish on your TV?" she asks a worker.
"What's wrong with that?" he asks.
"What's wrong with that is that you're not American," she says.
Amy's Pizzeria owners denounced discrimination in the caption of the video.
"This lady walked into our pizza shop (owned by hispanics) and heard Spanish coming from our TV and started discriminating us," the write.
"Not all Spanish speakers are Mexican and it was bold of her to assume so. Discrimination should NOT happen to anyone, no matter who they are nor what their background is. America is a country built by immigrants. I’m so sorry if you have ever experienced something like this."
Customers rushed to the pizzeria's defense, but apparently took things too far, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant asking customers to stop searching for her online.
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