NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Stamford, CT, June 17, 2026— A racist confrontation inside a Connecticut ShopRite supermarket has drawn widespread condemnation after a video showing a woman telling an Indian-American shopper to “go back to your country” went viral on social media.
The incident involved Stamford resident Sarina Gupta, who said she was making returns at a customer service desk when another customer became impatient and launched into a verbal attack.
According to Gupta, the returns process was taking longer than usual when the woman, later identified online as Victoria Mason, began complaining about the wait.
“I suggested that she could go use one of the other registers,” Gupta said in a follow-up TikTok video explaining the incident. “There was self-checkout, there were other cashiers, and so I suggested that she could go to one of those if this was taking too long.”
Gupta said the response was immediate and unprovoked.
“That is when she just completely unprovoked, lashed out at me, and yelled, ‘Go back to your country,'” Gupta said.
After hearing the remark, Gupta began recording the encounter on her phone. The video captured a stream of insults, including repeated demands that Gupta leave the country. At one point, the woman can be heard saying, “Stay out of America,” while continuing the verbal assault.
“I was just shocked,” Gupta later said. “I have never heard somebody say that out loud, and in public.”
The video quickly spread across TikTok and other social media platforms, generating thousands of comments condemning the behavior and expressing support for Gupta.
In her follow-up video, Gupta said she did not blame the supermarket employees who witnessed the incident.
“They were all people of color as well, and honestly, they were just as shocked and scared as I was,” she said. “I don’t think they had received the proper training or knew what to do in a situation where somebody was getting so aggressive.”
Gupta also said she was disturbed to learn that the woman involved reportedly works as a nurse at a nursing home.
“It was shocking and hurtful to find out that she is actually a nurse,” Gupta said. “The thought of her working with people of color, patients of color, is absolutely terrifying.”
Following the video’s widespread circulation, the nursing home identified as the woman’s employer, Nathaniel Witherell, issued a public statement distancing itself from the remarks and describing the behavior as troubling.
The incident has reignited discussions about anti-immigrant and anti-Asian discrimination in the United States, particularly as incidents of public harassment continue to be amplified through social media.
For Gupta, what began as a routine stop at a supermarket on her birthday became a deeply unsettling experience.
“It was my birthday,” she said. “I had just spent time with my grandparents and was doing some returns afterward. I never expected anything like this to happen.”
@guptasarina Replying to @Jadzia Nerys Storytime of Victoria Mason’s racist attacks on me, telling me to go back to my country #stamford #greenwich #nurse #hate #fyp ♬ Classic classical gymnopedie solo piano(1034554) – Lyrebirds music
@thatdaneshguy She's a nurse?! @Danesh @Sarina Gupta ♬ original sound – Danesh
