As a road rage incident began in Reston, Arsalan M. Ghousi pulled over on the side of the road and began recording on his cell phone. His video taken on Sunday, July 1 and posted to Instagram and Facebook went viral.
The video initially shows an unidentified man wearing a Reston Association T-shirt approaching Ghousi's car from the rear. The man's hands appear clenched. As Ghousi continues filming from the driver's seat with the window down, the video depicts a man walking up to Ghousi and yelling, "You're a "expletive" Afghanistan, go back to your "expletive" Afghanistan and tend to your "expletive" goats." In the video, Ghousi asks the man, "What's your problem?" More insults and profanities are hurled. The filmed confrontation lasts approximately 40 seconds with expletives heard by both individuals.
Ghousi posted: "He wouldn't let me merge at an intersection, I let him pass. I kept driving, and he kept following next to me, flicking me off and spewing words that I couldn't make out while driving. So about five minutes into him following my every turn I decided to pull out my phone and record."
IN A MESSAGE posted on the Reston Association website July 2 by Larry Butler, Acting CEO, Reston Association concerning the video, Butler acknowledges that the man in the video once worked for the organization, but he strongly condemns the man's remarks.
"Reston Association became aware of a video posted on social media earlier this week that shows a former RA seasonal employee making inappropriate comments to a man seated in a vehicle. The association strongly condemns the remarks made by the former employee, who briefly worked at RA from March-August 2015.
As an organization founded on Robert E. Simon Jr.’s vision of a community that embraces diversity, RA rejects comments or actions that display intolerance. RA members and staff support the core values upon which our community was founded. As an organization, we strive to meet the unwavering standards of our members and remain the respectful and welcoming community that was founded over 50 years ago."