How New Yorkers Dealt With Ranting Lawyer: Mariachi Party

Protesters gathered outside Aaron Schlossberg's apartment Friday evening
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 19, 2018 6:30 AM CDT
How New Yorkers Dealt With Ranting Lawyer: Mariachi Party
A demonstrator dances and sings along with the Mariachi Tapatio de Alvaro Paulino band as they perform during a demonstration across the street from the building that once housed the office space of Aaron Schlossberg on Friday in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

If Aaron Schlossberg really is bothered by people speaking in different languages, he maybe got an earful Friday night. A party of sorts, complete with music and maracas, erupted outside of the Upper West Side apartment of the New York City lawyer caught on video berating restaurant workers for conversing in Spanish, complete with a Latin theme and mariachi band, NBC News reports. The Guardian notes that a mariachi band was paid for with more than $1,000 raised on GoFundMe, with any extra money said to be put toward food, drinks, and props for attendees. NBC notes that mariachi band played earlier Friday outside the office space where Schlossberg used to work; it's not clear if the mariachi band outside his apartment was the crowdfunded one. Despite the generally festive atmosphere, however, many angry protesters made their feelings clear about Schlossberg's video rant.

"We're all Latinos, we all come from different backgrounds of Latin culture, but once you insult one, you insult all of us," one demonstrator tells the Observer. "[The party is] just for him to see that we're coming together as a community." Non-Latinos also came to show their support, with one doctor from upstate New York saying Schlossberg should be "punched in the face." At one point, the crowd outside the apartment chanted, "Make racists afraid again!" The event, which saw an NYPD presence, was jump-started by three activist groups, with at least seven other groups coming on board to help organize it. The New York Daily News estimates 500 people were in attendance. It's not clear if Schlossberg was at home during the protest. (More racism stories.)

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