Kamira Trent has been identified in the Good Samaritan in a viral video that shows her defending two Spanish-speaking women in a Colorado grocery.
The video, which has been viewed over half a million times since being uploaded to Facebook, shows Trent defend the two Spanish-speaking women from Linda Dwire, who was accosting them. The incident happened in an aisle of a City Market grocery store in Rifle, Colorado, on Monday, October 1.
According to witnesses, the racially-charged conflict began when Dwire overheard the two Mexican women — identified as Fabiola Velasquez and Isabel Marin — speaking in Spanish to each other. Dwire interrupted to ask if the pair lived in the United States and if they liked it.
After Velasques and Marin replied that they did enjoy living in the United States, Dwire raised her voice and told them to learn English.
At this point, Trent enters the scene, telling Dwire: “I’m calling the cops. You leave these women alone! Get out!”
via Buzzfeed News:
Velasquez, who has been in the US for eight years and was accompanied at the market by her two daughters and son, told BuzzFeed News that Dwire was aggressive and kept putting her hand in her face.
Trent, who was also shopping in the aisle, said she overheard Dwire tell Velasquez and Marin, “You’re in America. You’re in my country. You can’t speak Spanish here. You need to speak English if you’re going to be in America.”
Trent said she initially tried to deescalate the situation, stepping between Dwire and Velasquez and reminding Dwire it was a free country and that she couldn’t tell the other women how to speak.
Dwire responded by telling Trent it wasn’t her business. After about 10 minutes, the conversation between Trent and Dwire had spiraled into a shouting match, and Trent called the police. Velasquez said she and her friend would likely not have called the police themselves.
Following the incident, Dwire was arrested, taken to Garfield County Jail, and charged with two counts of bias-motivated harassment.
Trent has since received widespread praise of social media for taking action. As for Dwire, she maintains that she is not racist.
