On Thursday, July 15 at 11:45PM, 3 white men hurled Anti-Asian slurs at Ramen Lab Eatery staff after kindly being asked to leave since the business was closing for the day. Ramen Lab Eatery is located at 25 Northeast 2nd Ave. in Delray Beach and has been a staple for authentic, flavorful noodles since 2018.

The incident unfolded when the 3 men began unstacking chairs and occupying them while eating pizza. Restaurant staff attempting to close politely" asked them to leave in which the 3 men responded, hurling profanities at them. Restaurant owner Louis Grayson stepped in and filmed part of the exchange, which lasted a minute and 55 seconds. (WARNING: The video contains explicit language that may be disturbing to some viewers.)

Grayson said "I came out and asked them to leave, but they continued to yell, got [more] aggressive and kept saying this is public property." In the video, a man in a white shirt tells Grayson: "Take your f*cking China flu, and shove it up your a**! A**hole, you f*cking Taiwanese ch*nk motherf**ker.”

Grayson is heard telling the group that he asked them to leave “nicely,” but the profanity continues. “Sissy motherf**ker! Communist! Communist!” another in pink shorts says. The man in pink shorts was first to come on scene, unstacking chairs, grabbing the others and ordering pizza from another business. As things escalated, the man allegedly told Grayson, "I bet you’re from California and a liberal, you communist.”

The interlopers refused to leave until restaurant staff called the police. On Sunday, Grayson went to the Delray Beach Police Department to ensure that they had a report and his video evidence. "I wanted to make sure we were taking the right legal actions. [The police] said the best thing to do was put it on the internet since they could not do much with verbal abuse."

With the rise of recent attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and growing widespread attention on these attacks-in many ways due to the vitriolic rhetoric spewed by the former [presidential] administration, things like this have got to stop...

Here are some things you can do:

• Call (or email) Delray legislators Ted Deutch (House, FL 22nd District) and Lori Berman (D-FL District 31) with a message like the one below (feel free to add anything and make it your own):
  • Hello, my name is...[and I live in your District--only include if you reside in the corresponding congressional/senator districts] and I'm calling today to urge you to keep your promise to prosecute racism as mentioned in the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (S. 937). More specifically, I'm referring to Thursday, July 15 at 11:45PM, when 3 white men hurled Anti-Asian slurs at an Asian-owned business in Delray Beach. As of [today's date], no official report or charges have been filed. Just like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said so famously 58 years ago, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Thank you for your time and for listening to me. I look forward to uplifting accountability by taking swift action against this incident."
• Support Ramen Lab Eatery at 3 locations* (Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach)
  • *Check hours prior to arrival
• Explore your neighborhood for AAPI-owned businesses!
• Sign up for a bystander intervention training
• Report your own story of witnessing/experiencing hate:
  • Stop AAPI Hate
  • Stand Against Hatred
• Submit a tip to the Delray Beach Police Department
• Educate yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbors (and your dog if you want to!) on anti-racism literature

Be kind. Eat ramen. Do justice.