CORONADO (CNS) - A Coronado city official was placed on administrative leave Monday and his wife was fired from her job at a private school in Riverside County following allegations that the couple made racist statements toward Asians.
The allegations surfaced following the release of a video allegedly featuring the city's director of recreation and golf services, and his wife.
The video's poster, who said the incident occurred this weekend in Newport Beach, alleged that prior to filming, the couple made racist comments, including statements about Chinese people spreading COVID-19.
In the video, the couple is seen in a parking structure walking away from the person recording the video.
The woman in the video is heard saying "I love that we are not in their country. I love that we are not communism. I love that very much." Later she says to the person filming, "America is a free country. Go back to China."
On Monday afternoon, Coronado City Manager Tina Friend said in a statement that "the person involved has been placed on administrative leave pending an independent, full and fair investigation."
Friend also issued a statement Sunday in which she said the city "took immediate action" once it became aware of the video. Neither statement names the person involved, and only references the person in the video as "a city employee."
Friend's statement continues, "Our city's culture and values are core to who we are and that culture is based on professionalism, service and respect. We take matters such as this extremely seriously and the City has zero-tolerance for all forms of discrimination."
Linfield Christian School, a K-12 school in Temecula, posted a statement online Monday morning that stated his wife had been terminated from her job at the school. Read the full statement here.
