An Auckland woman is "shocked and shaken" after she was "racially attacked" in a central city park while trying to find a distressed child's missing caregiver.
Carrisse and some friends were out in Grey Lynn Park on Thursday afternoon when they saw a "hysterical" boy in the middle of the park alone.
"He was in distress. [My friend] and I were concerned for this boy so we walked to him and I asked, 'Who are you looking for? Where are your parents?'
"He said he was trying to catch up to his mum who was jogging but she's running too fast. So we decided to take this little boy to his mother.
"As I'm halfway past the field, a random old white lady is waving and screaming behind me."
Carrisse said she assumed the woman was the boy's mother and approached her, but instead the woman accused her of "abducting the kid".
"She's screaming in my face and walking closer to my face. I tell her to 'back off and take a step back' she refuses.
"She then says 'get vaccinated, that's why we're in lockdown because brown people aren't vaccinated' even though we are all vaxxed. She then threatens to call the police on us but we have witnesses everywhere.
"After that she calls us 'dumb n*****' not once but twice, and she was proud of it."
Carrisse said it was the first time she had been racially attacked and was shocked it happened at her local park.
Sharing her story on Facebook along with a quick video showing the woman, Carrisse said: "I am deeply in shock and shaken by what just happened".
The Human Rights Commission said the post makes some "disturbing claims" although the short video is "inconclusive".
"The Human Rights Commission is not in a position to make specific comments on this incident but reminds people we all have the right to be treated with respect, dignity and equity and not to be harassed, taunted or teased because of our colour or anything else related to our race or ethnicity," a spokesperson said.
