Gilbert Ortega Jr, the owner of a shop in Arizona, went on a racist rant after he saw Native American performers at an ESPN shoot in his area this week
On video, the whole racist rant was caught. Cody Blackbird, one of the Native American dancers hired by ESPN for the Super Bowl ad, said that Ortega started making fun of the dancers on Tuesday from the front of his jewellery store in downtown Scottsdale. Blackbird is part Cherokee and part Dakota.
Who is Gilbert Ortega Scottsdale Arizona shop owner caught on video yelling racist slurs at native Americans during super bowl ad
Gilbert Ortega Jr. owns the Gilbert Ortega Native American Gallery, and if what people are saying on social media is true, his family has a long history of traders who did not get along well with Native Americans. People say that he comes from Gallup, New Mexico.
Since his video making fun of the Native American performers went viral on social media, he has shut down his company’s Facebook page. On Etsy, you can also buy jewellery from his brand.
This man comes from a long line of traders who have swindled and exploited Native people. pic.twitter.com/uiUM6D62cY
— k’é infoshop (@KeInfoshop) February 8, 2023
In the video, Ortega was seen making fun of the performers by copying their moves and chants. When some of the group members came over to talk to him, Ortega did everything he could to anger them, calling the Native Americans “f**king Indians.” He also told them to go back to Gallup and talked about “MAGA country.”
Gilbert Ortega was taken away by a friend before things got bad. When things were quiet again, he went back to his business. But some of the performers did call the police to complain about Ortega. And Scottsdale police charged him with three charges of disorderly conduct.
Police looks into the Ortega’s case
Some of the Native Americans were so angry that they called the police to complain. The Scottsdale Police Department says they are looking into the Gilbert Ortega situation as “possible disorderly conduct.” So far, they haven’t seen anything that could be called a hate crime. Depending on what the investigation finds, that could change.
The police department of the city said, that the City of Scottsdale is proud to be a welcoming community, and they condemn this kind of racist comments. They do not represent our community. They reflected that it makes them sad that this happened, and that they were here for the people who were hurt. The city is angry about this person’s racist comments, which don’t reflect the community.
Gilbert Ortega allegedly apologised to the performers by bringing them flowers and a peace pipe.
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