By TJ Nelson
Friday July 28, 2017
FARGO, ND — The women at the center of a racist rant caught on cell phone in the Walmart parking lot Tuesday night have come together at the Fargo Police Department.
Chief David Todd met with Amber Hensley, Sarah Hassan and Leyla Hassan.
He said all three women have expressed regret regarding their interaction and language with each other.
Todd said the incident that went viral on social media shows that we have some things to work on as a community and individuals.
In the video, Hensley was recorded saying “We are going to kill all you “f—–g Muslims.”
She claimed the women in the car started the altercation by parking too close and calling her a “fat b—h”.
Hensley was fired by her employer on Wednesday.
Chief Todd said despite words being said that cannot be taken back, forgiveness and understanding can still be achieved.
Here is his full statement:
The incident that happened at the Walmart parking lot and then went viral on social media shows we have some things to work on as a community and as individuals. The vast majority of us, if we look to the past of our grandparents, great grandparents or those before them – we identify with their heritage and have some pride in it. I, for example have a mother that came across the ocean in a boat from Sweden and my father’s family came from Ireland.
Others in our community have heritage that goes back to the Far East, Middle East or to Africa and have that same pride in holding on to pieces of their heritage. We are all a little different and that is okay, in fact it’s good – if we strive to understand each other, accept each other and respect each other. If we do that, our diversity can make us stronger as a community.
Unfortunately, incidents like what happened this week and the social media commentary following it can cause further division and set us back from progress we are trying to make as a community.
However, I want to put before you an example of what can be accomplished even though mistakes were made and unfortunate words were said. Amber Hensley, Sarah Hassan and Leyla Hassan have all expressed regret regarding their interaction and language with each other.
With an openness to reconciliation, these women have come together and talked through this incident and expressed their sincere regrets, apologies and most importantly – forgiveness to each other. This process has also allowed them to gain understanding and respect for each other.
Not everything is perfect in this resolution. We have some ugliness in our community that needs to be addressed and worked on. Social media shows us that… However, perhaps we can all take a lesson from what was an ugly unfortunate interaction and how even despite words being said that cannot be taken back, forgiveness and understanding can still be achieved.
I want to thank these women for allowing us to facilitate their interest in getting together in order to work through this for the betterment of themselves and our community.
Chief David Todd