Louisville woman who told Hispanic shoppers 'go back to where you came from' faces ban

A woman who launched a racist tirade against Spanish-speaking customers at a JC Penney store in Louisville, Kentucky is to be banned from the mall once her identity is discovered.

The incident, which took place at the store in Jefferson Mall on 20 December, was filmed by another customer and posted on Facebook, where footage shows a woman shouting: "Speak English – you're in America".

The video shows a Hispanic woman and her friend being verbally abused by another shopper after the woman's friend passed her several items to add to her shopping rather than queuing separately.

In a Facebook post, fellow shopper Renee Buckner, who filmed the incident, wrote: "I had to get back on FB, to expose this racism in America/Louisville. If we ignore it, it will never go away....smh this is what America has come to, openly and proud to be a racist (sic).

"Storyline: This Hispanic lady was purchasing items and the transaction was almost complete, then her friend brings up some shirts to be added to her purchase instead of getting in line. And this lady went off!!! Warning explicit language FYI...this wasn't the entire scene, people tried to let her know it was out of order, but she wasn't hearing that."

The perpetrator of the verbal abuse, who has not yet been identified, swore at the two Hispanic women, telling them to "go back to where they belong," KTLA 5 reported.

The woman told the two shoppers: "Go back to wherever the f**k you come from lady.

She added: "You're probably on welfare, we probably paid for all that stuff.

"We probably paid for every bit of that stuff - the food they're getting and everything else."

The post, which has been widely viewed and shared on social media, prompted the mall to issue a statement, telling TV station WAVE: "We are aware of the video posted online today from inside JCPenney. … Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behaviour."