Woman in anti-Asian car incident video claims to be half-Filipino, posts apology
[Source]
Ashley Barkis, the woman caught in a viral video last week assaulting an Asian man after a car collision in Los Angeles, is receiving online backlash for her recent apology video.
On Wednesday, TikTok user @sam.anthabong shared the now-viral video that shows Barkis verbally and physically attacking the man in response to the four-car collision.
Although the man did not cause the collision, Barkis chooses to direct her anger toward him since his car collided with hers.
“You hit my car, so where is your insurance!” Barkis can be heard saying. “Do you have a driver’s license? Are you from America? Do you even have papers? Are you legal to be here? Where is your driver’s license?”
More from NextShark: Soil from 75 former Japanese American WWII incarceration sites collected for memorial
Barkis can be seen physically assaulting the man and his passengers, who all got out of their car. She shoves the man toward oncoming traffic and eventually returns to her car.
When @sam.anthabong posted her video on TikTok, Barkis’ identity was unknown at the time.
“Please help spread the word so we can find this woman! no one deserves to be treated like this,” the TikTok user wrote.
More from NextShark: Nonprofit to Manage Over $1 Million Donated to Chinese Grandma Who Fought Off Attacker
Barkis, who was eventually identified, responded to the online backlash she received by posting an apology video on her now-deleted Instagram account.
In the apology video, which has been reshared by TikTok users such as Ellen Acuario (@ellenacuario), Barkis attempts to explain herself and even claims that she is half Filipino.
“I apologize for any offense to the Asian community as I am half Filipino,” Barkis can be heard saying.
More from NextShark: Koreatown mural redone after three-year-long community backlash accusing of it being like a swastika
“There are so many other ways that I could have asked if he understood me or if there was something wrong with his license or simply waited for the police to get there,” she continues. “I hope you guys understand now that I am not at all racist.”
@ellenacuario Replying to @taga-ilog 🫣the indignations she got telling people so BOLDLY ✨Now U KNO CAN UNDERSTAND I AM NOT AT ALL RAS€IST✨ #itbeyourownpeoplesometimes #ashleybarkis #filipinopriderevoked #californiaroadrage #asianpeopleproblems ♬ original sound - Your Funny Unni
Acuario, who also goes by “Your Funny Unni” on TikTok, comments on Barkis’ claims in her own video, saying, “You’re revoked from your Filipino pride. … Cause seriously this is one of the worst cases of it be your own people sometime. To spout all that hate about Asians being illegals?”
More from NextShark: 3 arrested for killing of Chinese supermarket operator in Jamaica robbery
In a follow-up TikTok video on Saturday, @sam.anthabong shares screenshots of an alleged conversation between Barkis and a past co-worker.
Barkis appears to defend her actions in the messages.
The end of the video also shows another alleged conversation, this time between Barkis and a TikTok user named Chris Moua.
Moua, who has seemingly taken down his TikTok video that featured the alleged conversation, tells Barkis “what you did was wrong.”
In response, Barkis purportedly says, “Honestly f*ck your and your Asian community, you guys are the pest of the earth and brought corona virus to America. I really wish I pushed him harder and the car hit him and crushed his head. You Dumb Chinese f*ck.”
“Just don't get why she keeps trying to justify her actions like there is no justification for physical assault,” @sam.anthabong says in one of her comments on her recent post.
