Watch: Tech CEO Stuns Northridge Family With Racist Threats

NORTHRIDGE, CA — A Northridge man has become the center of a social media storm after a tech CEO berated them with racist slurs.

Raymond Orosa of Northridge was celebrating his wife’s birthday with his family at the Lucia Restaurant & Bar in Carmel. As they were singing “Happy Birthday,” Orosa said that a man at a nearby table – who has since been identified as Michael Lofthouse, the CEO of San Francisco-based cloud computing firm Solid8 – said “effing Asians” in a loud voice.

Orosa’s niece Jordan Chan began filming the encounter, and later posted the video on Instagram in a post that has garnered 711,527 views as of Wednesday afternoon. At the beginning of the video, Lofthouse flips the family the middle finger. As Lofthouse got up, he pointed at the family and said, “Trump’s gonna f---- you. You f----ers need to leave. F----ing Asian piece of s----.”

As Lofthouse put on his coat, a server called his behavior inappropriate and told him forcefully that he needed to leave. “Get out! You are not allowed here! You do not talk to our guests like that!” she shouted.

When Lofthouse asked her, “Who are these f-----s?” she replied, “They are valued guests!”

The response of the server, whose identity remains unknown, has been praised by the regional vice president of the Bernadus Lodge and Spa, where the restaurant is located, and model Chrissy Tiegen, who posted the video on Twitter and wrote, “If anyone knows who this server is, I’d like to give her a much-earned tip.”

Warning: NSFW language

View this post on Instagram

SHARE THIS POST Trigger warning: Racism, Vulgar Language (FYI he had a LOT more to say after I stopped recording) This is the face of the man who relentlessly harassed my family and I completely UNPROVOKED, UNWARRANTED, and UNCONSCIONABLE. We were celebrating my tita’s birthday, literally just singing happy birthday to her and taking pictures, when this white supremacist starts yelling disgusting racist remarks at us. (“Fuck you Asians” “Go back to whatever fucking Asian country you’re from” “You don’t belong here”) It is no coincidence that this man has the audacity to showcase such blatant racism on the 4th of July. White supremacy has a notorious habit of masquerading as patriotism! The fact that Donald Trump is our president (i.e. THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD) gives racists a platform and amplifies voices of hate. The surfacing of racists is so prevalent right now, even in such an ethnically/culturally diverse and liberal state like California, because Trump HIMSELF uses his position to incite racial tension and to promote aggression towards POC, foreigners, and immigrants. We need change! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE THIS UPCOMING RE-ELECTION. PROTECT ALL PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF SKIN COLOR AND ETHNIC ORIGIN.
A post shared by @ jordanlizchan on Jul 5, 2020 at 3:02pm PDT

After the video went viral, several publications identified the man as tech CEO Michael Lofthouse. Lofthouse has since deleted all his social media accounts and issued a statement of apology. Solid8 has not yet commented on whether Lofthouse is still employed.

“My behavior in the video is appalling,” he said in a statement. “This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family.”

Orosa is not convinced.

“He’s just saving face,” Orosa told ABC News. “I think he really meant what he said and what he did … I don’t believe his words because his actions speak louder than the words he’s saying.”

Nevertheless, Orosa told ABC News that he forgives Lofthouse, even though he does not believe his actions were “acceptable or right.”

Anti-Asian bigotry has spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, with many Americans blaming Asians for starting and spreading what leaders have derisively called the “Chinese flu” and “Kung Flu.” The nonprofit StopAAPIHate has tracked more than 1,800 incidents of anti-Asian racism across the country since mid-March.