Vape van.jpg

The 9th Cloud Vape van, seen here parked on Washington Street on Saturday, when city officials say its owner launched into a profanity-laced, anti-immigrant tirade.

(Submitted photo)

HOBOKEN -- The mayor and two council members recently rebuked "hate speech" used by the owner of Vape Van during an altercation on Saturday, and are seeking to have the business' vendor license revoked.

Pictured, a screenshot of the video posted to social media in which an employee of Vape Van goes on an racially-tinged tirade in Hoboken on Saturday.

In a video posted on social media, a man identified by city officials as the owner of Vape Van calls another man "a (expletive) immigrant" and tells him to go back to his country.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a statement Hoboken police were investigating the incident that occurred on Saturday.

"The hate speech by the Vape Van owner is reprehensible and does not represent Hoboken's diverse and inclusive community," Zimmer said.

Zimmer said the vendor was licensed by the city and subject "to follow all of our rules and regulations, and clearly they have not."

The mayor said Councilmen Ravi Bhalla and Ruben Ramos have agreed to co-sponsor a resolution revoking the company's vendor license.

"The Council previously adopted a resolution condemning the recent rise in hate incidents nationwide, and this repulsive act presents an opportunity for our local government to take tangible steps to put our words into action," she said. "Leaders at all levels of government need to speak out, and we need to stand together as a country against this hatred."

Vape Van has since offered an apology on its Instagram page.

"We regret to admit insulting racial slurs were made by a member of our team," the company said. "The exchange from start to finish went on for about 10 minutes, the recording shows the last few minutes."

It continued: "We sincerely apologize to all and anyone who is a part of the family, and to all who may have found our actions offensive. This public statement is in no way a justification for any of our actions. We are taking full responsibility for this situation and will act in any way possible to assure anything like this does not happen again."

Bhalla and Ramos said in a joint statement they wanted "to express our complete disgust with the hate incident involving the owner of the Vape Van vendor truck."

"This conduct has no place in Hoboken," they said. "This individual's actions do not reflect the views of businesses or residents in Hoboken. Hoboken is a city of immigrants and we take great pride in this tradition."

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.