A white man seen on video harassing a Black female immigrant and using racial slurs at a Pennsylvania Walmart is now under police investigation.
The update comes less than 48 hours after the disturbing confrontation went viral and the victim notified authorities. The Rostraver Township Police Department turned the case over to the state police’s Criminal Investigation Unit, and the FBI and the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office have been brought in.
The woman in the video hails from Liberia and was going about her day, shopping at the Charleroi Walmart, when a stranger approached her, his phone camera on, and addressed her by name.
Augusta “Queenie” Goll told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the ambush took her by surprise. In the video, you can see her face fall as the realization sets in that the man had malicious intentions.
“He just walked up to me and said, ‘Hey, excuse me, you Queen?’ I said ‘yeah,’ you know, and starts asking me where I have money to buy 500-thousand-dollar house.”
The chilling level of detail would rattle anyone, but his line of questioning took a more sinister turn when he launched into a racist attack, calling her the N-word and other slurs.
The quick-thinking woman, however, immediately told him to “get away from me” and called out for security, even warning a fellow Black shopper not to engage with him.
Goll, who runs a grocery store in Charleroi, told the outlet that the man visited her store after the encounter and left an apology letter.
“I feel like he hates my success,” she told KDKA talk show host Marty Griffin, “He hates the way I’m doing things, meaning opening a business, trying to get a home … but he forgets that the business is for the city, whatever improvements, taxes — it’s for the city.”
Even though Goll said the man had filmed similar ambushes with other immigrants and posted them to social media, she is not one to hold a grudge.
“It’s not something I will forget, but I believe in forgiveness,” she told Action News 4. “He needs help.”
She continued: “It’s not in my hands anymore. I just want to move on with my life. The damage is already done. And I would just leave like that for the rest of my life. You know, it’s very difficult for me to watch it.”
According to a January 19 press release issued by the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation remains active, as authorities continue to gather evidence and conduct “multiple” interviews.
