Cellphone video that has been viewed more than a million times shows an enraged driver shouting a racial slur at a Huntington Station father on a busy Long Island roadway.
The encounter happened on Deer Park Avenue earlier this week. The driver who was the subject of the racist tirade has said on Facebook that his young son was in the car with him when another driver, who is white, began yelling at him and calling him the n-word.
The father recorded the video and posted it to social media, and it's since been shared nearly 30,000 times with more than a million views.
The video was shared on Twitter by activist Shaun King, and through social media the shouting man in the video was identified as having worked at Paramount Chimney and Gutter in East Islip.
The company owners say they fired the man months ago, but they’ve since been flooded with angry calls and emails from all over the world.
"Please don't be mad at my company because we didn't do anything. We don't do that, we don't call people names," the owners said in a statement. "We are not a racist, we hired one by accident. And in February we figured it out and got rid of him, and we are suffering from it today."
The company owners say that following the viral video, customers have canceled their jobs and they've lost thousands of dollars. They're now trying to set the record straight. They say Shaun King has reached out to apologize.
Suffolk police say a police report has not been filed and there's no investigation into the incident.
The DA's office tells News 12 that while the language used in the video is repugnant, the Constitution protects free speech. The office says there were no violations of the law in the 20-second video that was reviewed.