SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — An Old Town Scottsdale business's phone has been ringing nonstop with insults and even death threats since the storefront appeared in a viral racist video.
But the business, the owners and employees had nothing to do with the video, and are being targeted by mistake.
The video shows Paul Ng, who lives above River Trading Post, telling a Black YouTuber he's in a "N*****-free zone", and admitting that he's a racist.
The incident happened in front of River Trading Post, but Ng is not affiliated with the business. He's a real estate agent who reportedly lost his job over the video, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
But people are still calling River Trading Post.
"The voicemails we've been getting are really ugly," Kathi Ouellet said.
Some callers tell her she needs to evict Ng from the building, which she can't do because he owns it. Others tell her they're coming to burn the store to the ground. Others threaten to kill her and say they hope her family dies.
Ouellet said they've logged over 1,000 phone calls so far. The threatening ones go to the police, she said.
"And the phone keeps ringing," Ouellet said. "We just want to sell American Indian art, that's what we do."
The YouTuber who posted the original video said he recorded a new video explaining the store was innocent. But that video no longer appears on his channel or social media.
"What that guy (Ng) did in front of our building was absolutely wrong," Ouellet said.
"Horrible, vile, disgusting, all the adjectives you want to use. But we didn't have anything to do with it."
