Halifax police investigating racist comment made during road rage incident

Halifax police are investigating an incident on a Nova Scotia highway that resulted in a man accusing a woman of driving slowly because of her “Asian” heritage.

Const. John MacLeod, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Police, confirmed that the force is investigating an incident that occurred on Tuesday near the intersection of St. Margarets Bay Road and Highway 103.

“A woman reported that a man had stopped his vehicle and approached her while she was in her vehicle and engaged in a verbal confrontation,” MacLeod said in a statement.

READ MORE: Couple says they’re ‘shocked’ over racist comment made during Halifax road rage incident

Eric McIntyre, who co-owns Kitsune Food Co., with Ami Goto, spoke to Global News on Tuesday about the incident.

McIntyre was with his partner when he says another motorist got out of his BMW, approached their vehicle and explained through their car window why he had passed them earlier on the
highway.

McIntyre recorded a video while he was in the passenger seat which shows a man saying, “Maybe it’s an Asian thing,” in response to what he believed was her vehicle travelling at “70 in a 100 zone.”

“That’s why I passed you and then after I passed you, you flipped me the bird,” the man is heard saying in the video.

Global News has attempted to contact a man who was identified in the video but was not successful.

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McIntyre says he shared the video online to show his family and friends what the couple encountered while driving.

Since being shared on Facebook, the video has been viewed over 37,000 times with people expressing outrage over the racist comment made by the man.

Police say they are still investigating but aren’t prepared to speak to what charges — if any — would be laid.

“The information gathered from the investigation will determine the appropriate charges,” said MacLeod.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The information gathered from the investigation will determine the appropriate charges," said MacLeod.

— With files from The Canadian Press