San Diego State University

Street Vendor Harassed Near SDSU in Viral Video Claims Incident was Racially Motivated

NBC Universal, Inc.

A video showing a group of women verbally harassing a hot dog vendor near San Diego State is quickly going viral.

The group is seen verbally harassing the man and throwing away his food. The cart operator, named Jose Andres Arguelles, told NBC 7 it all started when the women got mad over the price of the hot dogs and demanded a discount. Arguelles said no and asked them to leave, but he said they refused and started messing with his food.

Arguelles said they also insulted and threatened him, something he believes was racially motivated. The video has already been viewed more than two million times on TikTok.

San Diego State University officials say they're looking into the incident but have confirmed the women are not students at SDSU.

The school released the following statement:

On Monday, we were informed of an incident where several individuals spoke and acted inappropriately toward a food vendor who had set up on the SDSU campus.

While several social media accounts initially reported otherwise, none of the individuals in the video are confirmed to be SDSU students. Further, while individual names have been shared online, at least one SDSU student and a student organization tagged by social media accounts reported being misidentified and not present in the video, and none of the remaining names shared are SDSU students. SDSU is in contact with other local universities and has confirmed with university officials that three individuals connected to the video are currently or have been students elsewhere, not at SDSU.

The behavior toward the food vendor is unacceptable and counter to expectations of human dignity. No person should be treated with this level of disrespect. In the interest of accountability, no matter where a person is studying,

SDSU continues to seek information about what happened, and will share information with other universities. We continue to urge anyone with information about the incident and who can confirm identities of anyone who was involved to share details as soon as possible with SDSU's Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities via the online reporting form.

As there were individuals in the video incorrectly identified, we caution all to rely on accurate sources of information and to only report and share information verified by legitimate sources and authorities.

We urge any threatening behavior toward individuals and organizations to cease immediately.

Arguelles told NBC 7 he hopes the women learn a lesson as to how you should not treat other people. Arguelles said he wants justice and hopes the discrimination stops because he's not the only street vendor who has gone through this.

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