Naperville Gas Station Apologizes After Video of Confrontation Goes Viral

A convenience store company has apologized after video showing a confrontation between the cashier of a suburban Chicago location and a group of Hispanic customers went viral.

"The comments made by the associate are not reflective of the core values of Bucky’s Convenience Stores," a representative for the company said in a statement released Friday. "We apologize to all of the individuals that were affected by the associate’s inappropriate behavior."

The employee in the video, recorded at the Bucky's Mobil in Naperville, was fired over the video in which he can be seen telling a group of customers that "ICE will come" and they "have no rights," the general counsel for the store's parent company said.

"Clearly there was an altercation and he didn’t react well," Steve Kalhorn told NBC 5. "And we don’t treat customers that way, that’s why he’s no longer an employee."

Carolina Buitron said she and her family, some of whom were visiting from Mexico, stopped at the west suburban gas station for chips and were speaking Spanish when the cashier asked them to leave because they were “illegals.”

"He started asking about my cousins, if they were illegal, family or friends, are they adopted," Buitron said, noting that she then pulled out her cell phone and started recording.

Video footage of the cashier was posted to social media and has since been viewed more than 400,000 times. Though the video does not show the cashier calling the family “illegals” or refusing service, but it shows him asking the group if they are citizens and telling them “ICE will come.”

A second video shows the cashier and another customer telling the group “you have no rights.”

"As with all personnel matters, we did a full investigation and determined this individual’s behavior was unacceptable, and the individual is no longer employed by us," Bucky's Friday statement reads. "We do not tolerate any behavior that is insensitive to our valued customers."

Kalhorn acknowledged surveillance video did capture the altercation, but said cameras only showed the back of the employee and did not capture what he said clearly.

"I looked at the video and even though I can't make out everything that’s said, I can see that there’s animation going on and yelling and that’s just not acceptable behavior for our organization," he said.

"They got into an argument and things were said that shouldn’t be said," Kalhorn said.

"At Bucky’s, we pride ourselves on being a very diverse and inclusive company that treats all individuals with the utmost respect," the company's statement said. "We strive for our customers to have a great experience each time they stop at Bucky’s and expect that all of our associates provide excellent customer service at all times."

Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico said area police have reviewed the video and are "looking into it."

"Let me be abundantly clear: hate has no home here in Naperville. Quite frankly, this type of behavior has no place in society at large," he wrote on Facebook Wednesday. "Our city prides itself on being open and inclusive to all. Civility towards each other is an important component of being a global citizen, and I urge everyone in our community to showcase the kindness, compassion, and good decorum that our residents are known for and that our world needs more of."

Naperville police confirmed they "reviewed the social media video."

"We will continue to investigate the matter as well as monitor any related activities occurring in Naperville," the department said in a statement.

Separate groups stood outside the gas station on Washington Street Wednesday, some holding signs that read “Build the Wall” and others that read “boycott racism.” Another protest took place Thursday outside the gas station, with organizers saying they wanted to send a message to the station owners.

" think it’s a shame to see something like this is occurring in a community that seems to pride itself on diversity," said Sandra Gonzalez.