A man from El Salvador says that he has received threats from the family of a Walmart employee after he shared video of her telling him to speak English as he was in Pasadena, Texas.
Joel Aparicio is a father of two children who lives in Houston, Texas. He - like so many others - encountered a problem at a self-checkout machine.
When the female member of staff called Cecilia arrived to help out, he asked her if she spoke Spanish, to which she replied: "No."
She fixed the machine for him and left, before it broke down again and she was forced to come back.
This time she proved her earlier statement to be a lie as, according to Aparicio, she spoke to him in fluent Spanish to tell him that he shouldn't be living in the United States if he is unable to speak the language.
Putting aside for one second that the city of Pasadena has a 65 percent Hispanic population - meaning that there is a good case for Spanish being the first language of the city - Aparicio had every right to be slightly taken aback by the woman's attitude.
Needless to say, he was. He's lived in Houston for 13 years and runs his own repair business in the city. Angered by the woman, he produced his mobile phone and started recording the video.
In Spanish, he asked her: "Is it obligatory to speak English then?"
Also in Spanish, she replied: "Yes, because we're in Texas."
Aparicio then proceeded to point out that it doesn't matter what language he speaks, as he has the money to pay for the stuff. He also made a point of noticing that the woman was obviously also of Hispanic heritage, and that she also spoke Spanish.
Eventually, in English, Cecilia said: "I live in Texas, so I speak English."
Since Aparicio posted the video online, it has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and commented on several thousand times, usually in support Joel, rather than the Walmart employee.
Despite nearly everyone being on his side, Mr Aparicio says that he has also received death threats from people claiming to be related to Cecilia.
One in particular uses some pretty horrible racist language that doesn't bear repeating. Another was from a woman who said she was Cecilia's daughter and threatened violence.
Joel has since contacted the police after receiving these threats.
Walmart released a statement to the Houston Chronicle that acknowledged that the company was aware of the incident and was dealing with it internally.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Joel Aparicio