Striking autoworkers brutally beat a man and assaulted his wife outside the Stellantis plant in Detroit for hurling ‘racial slurs’ on Friday.
The UAW boss told a local Fox 2 reporter that the man drove up to the picket line, hurled racial slurs and threw objects at the striking autoworkers.
WJBK reported:
A brawl erupted outside the Stellantis Center Line facility early Friday evening after a man driving by allegedly hurled racial slurs and insults at striking UAW members.
The incident – caught on video as SkyFOX helicopter cameras were rolling – unfolded with the man stopping his SUV and getting into a verbal confrontation with a group of UAW members.
Video shows it quickly escalated with shoving and the man grabbing a striker’s sign, wielding it as a weapon swinging at UAW members.
After backing up against a fence, punches were exchanged as a group of members traded blows with the man. At one point the man stumbled onto the ground where he absorbed additional punishment.
The altercation appeared to simmer and the man returned to his vehicle when his wife got out, and can be seen throwing a piece of trash at the UAW members.
At this point pushing and shoving took place with one UAW member swatting her head with his sign.
Several UAW members surrounded the man and beat him. According to WJBK, the man’s wife was also assaulted after she exited the SUV to confront the autoworkers. The couple’s children were also in the SUV at the time of the assaults.
WATCH:
A brawl erupted after a man driving by allegedly hurled racial slurs and insults at striking United Auto Workers members https://t.co/LW8kyG0QoI pic.twitter.com/DzN17jx6Bp
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 23, 2023
For the first time in the history of the 150,000-member United Auto Workers Union, members went on strike against the “Big 3” manufacturers at midnight Thursday night after no deal was reached.
The “Big 3” include Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the newly-formed merger of Fiat Chrysler and the PSA Group.
President Trump will be in Detroit next week to speak to a crowd of more than 500 current and former union members.