New York lawyer insists he is ‘not racist’ after tirade at Spanish-speaking restaurant staff prompts Mariachi protest outside his home

A Manhattan lawyer has insisted he is “not racist” after a video of his tirade against Spanish-speaking restaurant staff prompted hundreds to protest outside his home with a Mariachi band.

Aaron Schlossberg has apologised on social media and said “seeing myself online opened my eyes” after a video surfaced of him haranguing workers at the Fresh Kitchen deli, on Madison Avenue, last week.

In the video, the 42-year-old is seen threatening to call immigration authorities on workers after he heard a customer speaking Spanish with a Hispanic employee.

Mr Schlossberg was heard shouting at the deli’s manager: "I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do is speak English."

He was also filmed mocking a woman eating a sandwich, telling her “maybe you should take a break from the food.”

The video, which was initially posted on Tuesday May 15, provoked an swift reaction in the city and on social media with people organising a campaign to give Mr Schlossberg’s firm one-star ratings on the business review app Yelp.

Local New York politicians have also filed court complaints against him seeking to have his law licence suspended until he "amends his actions".

Anger at the video culminated on Friday when hundreds of protesters gathered outside of Mr Schlossberg’s home accompanied by a Mariachi band.

The band was crowd-funded via a GoFundMe campaign, called Mariachis For Aaron Schlossberg, which raised more than $1,000 (£750).

Yesterday Mr Schlossberg issued a statement on Twitter offering his “sincerest apologies to anyone and everyone hurt” by the comments in the video.

He said: “What the video did not convey is the real me. I am not racist. One of the reasons I moved to New York was precisely because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city.

“I love this country and this city, in part because of immigrants and the diversity of cultures immigrants bring to this country.”

The manager of Kitchen Fresh told the New York Daily News that his worker had been speaking Spanish to a customer as they were friends.

During his rant at the Fresh Kitchen manager, Mr Schlossberg said he wanted the staff “kicked out of my country”.

He was filmed saying: "Your staff are speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English - this is America," he shouted at the Fresh Kitchen manager.

"I will be following up because my guess is they're not documented and my next call will be to ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement]," Schlossberg said.

"I will get each of them will be kicked out of my country.

"I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do is speak English."

Mr Schlossberg, a registered Republican who donated $500 to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, boasts of being fluent in Spanish in his own company biography.

After the footage of the Fresh Kitchen tirade went viral other videos emerged showing Mr Schlossberg losing his temper in public.

One filmed in May 2017 showed Mr Schlossberg with other Trump supporters swearing at a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who opposed the state of Israel.