Woman caught on video in racist tirade at park now charged with assault, NC cops say
A 41-year-old woman caught on video yelling racist comments in Asheville on multiple occasions has been arrested in a separate incident, according to police.
Rachel Ruit was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and second degree trespassing on July 4 after officers responded to a report of an assault near Roger McGuire Green — part of Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville, police said in a news release on Facebook Wednesday.
“When officers arrived, they encountered Rachel Dawn Ruit, 41, who is known to APD for recent acts of verbal harassment and hate speech in the downtown area,” the post states.
A police report shows Ruit was arrested about two miles away from the park at 509 Biltmore Ave near Mission Hospital. Her bond was listed as $0.
Ruit could not be reached for comment.
The investigation into the July 4 incident is ongoing, but it’s not Ruit’s first encounter with law enforcement.
Three days before her arrest, a video posted on Twitter shows a woman believed to be Ruit in the same area yelling racial slurs and threatening sexual violence. The video was a separate incident from Ruit’s July 4 arrest, Asheville Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Regner told McClatchy News.
“I know that we did have an encounter on July 1 with Rachel,” she said.
But Regner said Ruit was gone by the time police arrived.
In the video, Ruit is seen sitting on a cement bench and yelling.
“You going to record me b----?” she said in the video. “Go ahead because I hate n----- and I hate you, b----.”
The person recording tells bystanders Ruit is yelling at her “because I’m mixed and she’s racist.” The person recording also says she is only 14 years old.
A similar video showing Ruit yelling at a Black family visiting from Charlotte went viral last month, WLOS reported. One of the family members, Aisha Sabur, told the TV station it was “the most blatant display of racism that I have ever experienced.”
The family was on their way to a birthday dinner on June 13 when the incident occurred, according to WLOS.
Nearby protesters stepped in “to deescalate the situation,” WCNC reported. Ruit then “verbally assault(ed)“ them as well.
“(I) put my body in between Aisha and Rachel to try to get her away because that’s just not acceptable at all,” protester Hollie Justice told WCNC.
An incident report citing disorderly conduct was filed with Asheville Police Department the following day, police records show.
Ruit was also arrested June 22 for a separate incident on Smokey Park Highway. She was charged with communicating threats and disorderly conduct, according to the arrest report. Her bond was listed at $0.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Woman caught on video in racist tirade at park now charged with assault, NC cops say."
