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I still can’t believe that in Ottawa in 2018, racist things like this can happen. As a Canadian born, I have NEVER witnessed such appalling derogatory behaviour towards someone of Chinese ancestry. I was walking to our car with my baby, my 88 year old grandmother and my mother. This woman and her husband impatiently waiting for a parking spot right beside me (note that there are many available spots in the lot including the one over) - made racist remarks to me, hit me with their car that was not captured in this video and finally aggressively and intentionally hit me on my left shoulder. Once they told me to “Go back to your country you Chinese Ch*nk B*tch”, I decided to capture their license plate and the following assault ensued in this video. The most offensive part is that this all happened as I had baby with me! I have already filed a police report. I have been told this is NOT the first time this couple has done this. Let social justice take its course. I hope they will NEVER have the opportunity to do this to someone else whether they be from Asian or a different descent. A huge thanks to our wonderful Ottawa Police Service - Service de police d'Ottawa! They responded within 20 minutes of my call. Officers Wiseman and Fang were incredibly courteous, professional and kind. Thank you! #Ottawa #racism #racist #socialjustice #assault #shocked #ignorance #badbehavior Addendum: https://www.facebook.com/90404850/posts/10102054915181205/ Posted by Jenny Dao-D'Angelo on Tuesday, September 18, 2018

It happened last Friday afternoon as Dao-D’Angelo, her mother – who was carrying Dao-D’Angelo’s baby – and grandmother left her grandmother’s birthday lunch at a Merivale Road restaurant.

“I was walking towards my driver’s side door,” Dao-D’Angelo recounted Thursday. “I heard a honk, he was trying to take the parking spot right beside me even though there were an additional two spots available.”

She signalled to him that she was getting to her car when he used a racist slur, she said.

“I crossed my arms and shook my head at him and he proceeded to move forward with his car,” Dao-D’Angelo said. “The car made contact with my legs, I lost balance and caught myself on the hood of his car.”

Dao-D’Angelo pulled out her phone to record their licence plate and captured a brief video in which one of the people appears to strike her – her phone shakes as they “aggressively and intentionally hit me on my left shoulder.”

Both make further racially charged comments.

In her now-viral post, Dao-D’Angelo says that “the most offensive part is that this all happened as I had baby with me!”

“I hope they will NEVER have the opportunity to do this to someone else whether they be from Asian or a different descent,” she added.

But later Thursday, Dao-D’Angelo said police have told her “pursuing charges may not be successful at the end of the day. Ultimately I am just hoping for a sincere apology and a promise that it won’t happen again.

“This video was posted with the intent to bring awareness to this racial issue and also to hold these people socially responsible,” she said in an emailed statement. “It’s unfortunate to see that in 2018, after so much progress, that we still see forms of racism around us, whether heat of the moment or not. Regardless of age or geography, racism still does exist and we should not ‘let it go.’

“Although we have yet to receive an apology, I’d like to offer the couple in the video my forgiveness in advance.”

Dao-D’Angelo also hailed the “wonderful” Ottawa Police Service, which responded within 20 minutes of her call to take her report.

“Officers (Patrick) Wiseman and (Jimmy) Fang were incredibly courteous, professional and kind,” she said.

City police confirmed that they’ve received a report and are investigating.

“We’re aware of the video and we’ve met with the complainant,” Const. Chuck Benoit said Thursday morning.