Temecula teacher fired over anti-Asian rant captured on video

Wednesday, February 2, 2022
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A Temecula teacher was fired after she and her husband were captured on video making racist comments toward two Asian women.

"America is a free country! Go back to China!" the teacher is heard saying in the video.

The viral video, which was originally posted on TikTok and shared on Instagram, has garnered millions of views.

According to the social media post, two women were shopping at Fashion Island in Newport Beach when the couple started making racist remarks, and saying things like "stop spreading COVID."

The woman heard in the video making the anti-Asian comments was identified as Sandra Miller, a teacher at Linfield Christian School in Temecula.

The school released a statement, saying:

"After speaking with Ms. Miller regarding the incident, Linfield has terminated her employment immediately. The statements made by Ms. Miller do not reflect the beliefs of Linfield, are inconsistent with Linfield's mission statement, and fail to meet the behavior Linfield expects employees to model for its students."



As for her husband, he's an employee of the city of Coronado, and he's been placed on leave pending an "independent, full and fair investigation."

The racist rant is the latest incident among a wave of anti-Asian sentiment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"The level of animosity towards the Asian community, and the feeling that we are the cause of the pandemic is still very real," said Connie Chung Joe, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles.

"I would say to this couple, I wish you understood the gravity of your words," Joe told Eyewitness News. "I wish you understood that when you say to an Asian American 'Go back to China,' what you're saying to all Asian Americans who watch this video is that we are not ever American enough."

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