Woman Charged In Assaulting Security Guard Pleads Not Guilty

MALIBU, CA — A 37-year-old Malibu woman who is charged with using racial slurs against a Black security guard at a supermarket in West Hollywood earlier this week pleaded not guilty to felony charges on Friday.

Kashmire Duran faces up to six years in prison if convicted after the Los Angeles County District Attorney charged her with felony assault with a deadly weapon and other charges after she was alleged to have thrown a glass bottle at the security guard, Nathosha Lawson. Duran also faces charges of assault by means of force to do great bodily harm and a misdemeanor charge of the violation of civil rights.

Lawson told police that she was attempting to break up a fight between Duran and her father this week when she said she was bitten in the finger and struck with a glass bottle that she alleges was thrown by Duran, who is white. Duran was arrested on Monday and released after she posted $30,000 bond.

According to video that is posted to YouTube and that was captured by a witness, Duran, while sitting in the front seat of a car, repeatedly used obscenities and racial slurs toward two Black security guards at the store and before rolling down the window and saying, “Here’s some dog food,” and using the N-word.

The video shows Lawson standing in front of the car and preventing Duran and her father from leaving the scene until police could arrive while saying that the woman in the car was going to jail.

A Go Fund Me campaign has raised more than $1,300 as of Friday and was started by Carlos Sapene, who wrote on the fundraising page that he witnessed the incident. On the page, he said that Duran used the N-word at least three times.

“There is NO REASON in this world to use that language to demean a fellow human being. The color of our skin is just a feature, as is your height, hair color, etc it is nothing more than melanin,” the page reads. “We need to stop this hate.”