Sudbury woman recounts racist incident that led to 'physical altercation'

Sudbury groups working toward racial equity Racism and equality are being discussed in northern Ontario between people of colour, health officials and police. Alana Everson reports.

The victim of a racist incident in Greater Sudbury over the weekend is speaking out about what happened to her.

Greater Sudbury Police said Monday they are investigating reports of a racist and physical altercation at a Lasalle Boulevard convenience store Saturday evening.

"Information provided was that two individuals had been in a verbal argument where a man made racial slurs towards another customer resulting in a physical altercation between the two individuals outside of the store," police said in a news release.

"The investigation into the incident is ongoing."

The customer involved in the incident – Tamba Baba -- recorded a video of what happened and posted it on Instagram. Baba told CTV News she began filming the incident when she confronted the man.

The video has since been taken down, but it showed a man making ignorant comments first to the male clerk at the store, and when Baba objects, he begins insulting her using racist, hateful language.

"He used the N-word numerous times," said Baba, who graduated from high school last month and plans to take the police foundations program at College Boreal in the fall.

While at first she was very polite, she admits she got angry when he began insutling her and she got physical first. What followed was an altercation that ended when Baba crashed to the ground, face first, chipping a tooth, scratching her face and leaving her with a bloodied lip.

The man left, she said, and police were called. Baba ended up going to the station herself. Police told her that officers would come to see her later on.

Officers arrived around 8 p.m. They cautioned her that she could end up being charged because she got physical first, Baba said. They suggested she might want to just drop it and move on.

"I was, like, no," she said. "What happened was not OK."

Since the incident hit social media, Baba said many people have reached out to her, including lawyers who encouraged her to pursue the case.

And Sudbury police said Monday they are committed to investigating the case.

"The Greater Sudbury Police Service takes reports of hate-motivated crime and hate-bias incidents very seriously and we recognize the impact on and pain felt by community members when there is evidence of hatred," police said.

"We want to assure you that we are committed to investigating these situations thoroughly."