Woman who made racist remarks in video faces separate charge

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman whose racist, anti-Asian tirades were caught on video last month is facing a warrant for her arrest in connection with a separate confrontation last year.

The Torrance city attorney's office said 54-year-old Lena Hernandez was charged Thursday in a case of battery related to an October 2019 event, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Police allege Hernandez, a retired social worker from Long Beach, verbally assaulted a custodian and struck another person who tried to intervene at a mall in Torrance.

Hernandez is scheduled to be heard on the charge at Torrance Superior Court Monday.

Last month at a park in Torrance, a woman later identified as Hernandez was recorded on video using profanity while speaking to a younger woman who was exercising at a set of stairs.

"Go back to whatever ... Asian country you belong in,'ť Hernandez said in the video.

In a second outburst later that day, a video showed Hernandez berating a man in his car with two of his children present and saying, 'œYou know what, you need to go home."

She used profanity, threatened to kill the man and referred to him as a 'œChinaman.'ť She complained his vehicle was parked too close to her Honda.

Video clips of both encounters were posted on Twitter.

Torrance officials said the city attorney reviewed the police investigations and concluded there was insufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges against Hernandez for her comments.

Torrance Mayor Patrick Furey said the scene he saw on social media was 'œnauseating to absolutely anybody in our community.'ť

The population of the city, where 80 languages are spoken, is between 30% and 40% Asian or Pacific Islander, Furey said.