NJ woman’s racist rant at New Brunswick Sears caught on video

NEW BRUNSWICK — A New Jersey man says Sears employees should have kicked out a customer who made bigoted comments against a Latino family and an Asian store employee.

Simoni Lovano, 27, recorded video of the rant Sunday at the Sears store on Route 1.

“Send them back to their own f---ing country!” the woman says in the clips of the video Lovano shared on his social media accounts.

“Let’s drain the swamp! Hurry up!” adds a man who was with the woman.

The couple was upset that the family was holding up the line because the cashier was taking time to go through their coupons.

The woman then takes issue with “an Indian waiting on an Indian” — even though some people in the video point out that the family is not Indian.

A store employee comes to try to calm the woman, but she was never asked to leave, Lovano said.

Lovano said all the employees and customers he saw on line were minorities and everyone seemed uncomfortable and shocked by what was happening.

He says his own family moved to the United States from Sicily when he was a child.

“Nobody intervened to actually address her hateful comments,” he said Tuesday in an interview with New Jersey 101.5. “I feel guilty as well that I didn’t speak up. I was so angry I was almost shaking and it was very hard for me to say something.”

A message left with Sears’ corporate office on Monday night was not returned by Tuesday afternoon.

Lovano said he moved to New Jersey eight years ago from California and said this was the first time he’s seen such a hateful display in public here.

“A lot of people say these things happen in Kentucky or Wisconsin or Tennessee, but it happens here, too. It’s just people don’t realize it.”

Lovano said one of the Latina customers being attacked turned to him and apologized.

“Nobody really defended her on the hateful comments. She actually felt she was the one at fault,” he said. “That is the saddest part of all.”

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-359-5348 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.