‘Just with that accent, you should be taken by ICE’: San Antonio Verizon employee allegedly threatened a customer during a phone trade-in dispute

A family in San Antonio, Texas, is shaken and angry after a Verizon store employee allegedly threatened to call ICE on them during a dispute over a phone trade-in. The incident was recorded on video and later shared on Reddit, where it quickly spread and caused a lot of outrage online. The customers said they had gone to the Verizon store with their mother to trade in their phones when the employee became aggressive and rude. 

The customer explained that their mother had already had a bad experience at the same store before, which led to a confrontation with the employee, according to The Nerd Stash. As they were walking out of the store, the employee allegedly shouted, “I hope you have the day you deserve,” and then added, “Just with that accent, you should be taken by ICE.”

The customer felt threatened by the comment and tried to report the incident to the store. She also asked the employee for her name, but the employee refused to give it. The video, which was watched by thousands of people, shows the customer repeatedly asking for the employee’s name and being turned away each time. At one point, the employee can be heard saying, “I don’t give a [expletive].”

The ICE threat sparked widespread anger, with many people calling the employee’s behavior a clear act of racism

The video on Reddit got a strong reaction online, with many people expressing anger and disgust. “The ICE threat is so far out of line that she deserves to be fired,” one viewer wrote. Another wrote, “Cant tell if she is white or a coconut.” Others encouraged people to leave reviews about the store to warn others. One person joked, “Did you threaten to call animal control on her?”

The customer also spoke about how the comment made her feel. “To me, that is a threat,” she said. “I have a witness to what she said.” Her account of the incident, along with the video, helped bring more attention to what happened at the store. This comes at a time when Donald Trump has backed a plan to rename ICE in an effort to improve the agency’s public image.

The incident also started a broader conversation about the use of ICE threats as a way to intimidate people. In recent years, there have been many reports of people using the threat of ICE as a tool to silence or scare others, particularly in communities with immigrants, reports Reuters.

People have also been warned about what rules ICE agents must follow when approaching individuals, which many say is important information to know. The fact that a store employee felt comfortable enough to make such a comment in public, on camera, has raised serious concerns. 

Many people online pointed out that this kind of behavior reflects a bigger problem with racism and discrimination that still exists in everyday settings. Verizon has not yet made a public statement about the incident, and it is unclear what action, if any, has been taken against the employee. The store where the incident happened is located in San Antonio, Texas.