RCMP warn against harassment following racial tirade toward Uber driver caught on camera

A Calgary Uber driver is alerting others about a racially motivated incident that occurred in his vehicle last month, following a pick-up of a passenger.

It was all caught on camera.

The interaction starts off with a friendly greeting from the passenger.

"Thanks for picking me up," he tells Mandeep Sehgal, who has been driving Uber for three years, two in Calgary.

But it then became an interrogation about Sehgal's immigration status, where he is from and if he plans to marry a "white chick."

"I'm white blood of the land. You are on my land. I am the blood of the land. Punjabi, Indian, you're not even close to from being here," the passenger said.

"I was laughing," Sehgal said of his initial reaction.

"I was like, he's joking. And I get these kind of people, they try to be ignorant, they pass racism."

Sehgal picked up the man from a home along 32nd Street in Foothills County, north of Okotoks, on Sept. 21 around 9:15 p.m.

The man says he was born and raised in Calgary.

The ride lasted about three minutes before Sehgal kicked the passenger out.

"You can get out here on your land. Thank you so much," Sehgal told the passenger.

"He got out and he was literally kind of shaking.

"He was trying to defend himself. Like, no, bro, you crossed the limit, and I will not tolerate this."

Sehgal is from India but has lived in Canada for seven years.

His kids were born here.

He says he posted the video on social media the day after the incident but it only gained traction in the last month, becoming viral and seen around the world.

"If you have to prove that you belong here, that's kind of a disrespect," he said.

Stop Hate Alberta says these types of events can be a precursor to something much worse.

"Racism doesn't just permeate in strong, harsh acts of violence that are deemed criminal," said executive director Nina Saini.

"There's also all these hate incidences that are happening that are kind of perpetuating the reality of what can escalate to a hate crime."

Okotoks RCMP are investigating but Mounties admit it doesn't appear to be a criminal offence.

"There's not a lot of an offence here," said Alberta RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.

"It's a horrible incident but it doesn't necessarily meet the Criminal Code."

"This for me is an indication of a preliminary step to what can get worse and can escalate," Saini said.

RCMP are also issuing a warning to the public that where this incident occurred is not the home of the passenger.

The homeowners have reported to police that they are being harassed and threatened.

"This third party really had nothing to do with the tirade itself. ... They're not associated to this incident," Savinkoff said.

Sehgal says he does have one message for the man.

"I still see good in him," he said.

"I still have hope that he realizes that he did what he did, and I hope he will not repeat with anyone else."

Uber initially emailed him saying a rider reported a privacy concern.

"Our community guidelines don't allow the use of personal information for any reason other than completing trips," the email read.

"Broadcasting audio, video recordings or a person's image may result in loss of access to Uber."

Following traction on the video, Uber issued Sehgal an apology.

The company issued a statement that it will not accept discrimination.

"Everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome and respected when using Uber," a company spokesperson said.

"Hate has no place in our society, and we do not tolerate discrimination. We have been in touch with the driver and have removed the rider from the platform."