California firefighter who shouted racist remarks in viral TikTok said he was having a ‘bad day’

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY – An Alameda County firefighter was filmed shouting racist remarks at a Stockton man.

A TikTok with over half a million views shows the firefighter shouting racist remarks after an accident on Highway 99 south of Lodi at the corner of Harney Lane and Armstrong Road.

“D—— Mexican or Filipino, whatever you are,” the firefighter said in the video.

His name has not yet been released as the Alameda County Fire Department has not yet confirmed his identity.

“I'm probably going to go do some crappy yard job,” the firefighter said in the video.

The Alameda County Fire Chief confirmed that the firefighter has been with the department for over 20 years.

We went to the house in Rocklin that was believed to belong to the firefighter. The man declined our invitation for an interview but did not deny that he was the man in the video.

“I'm very sorry. That's not me,” he said. “I had a bad day. That doesn't represent my family.”

“Once it's out, that's what you feel deep inside,” Vath Touch said. “It doesn't matter what you say now.”

Touch is the man who recorded the video and posted it online. After the accident last Friday, Touch said he saw the firefighter go to his window and hit the record button for safety.

“When a person like that shows up, you don't know what's going to happen,” he said. “And that's what happened. I didn't press record to get all of this, but it just so happened that I got it.”

“I'm not a racist. I'm a firefighter,” the firefighter said in the video during the argument.

Alameda County Fire Chief William MacDonald said, “I don't consider it a hate crime, I consider it embarrassing.”

The chief held a press conference on Monday morning and announced that all firefighters would therefore participate in sensitivity training.

“No matter what race you are, if you are in public service and you are thinking about saying something, you must hold back and say nothing at all,” Touch said.