Racial Tensions Flare in Belmont Gardens: Verbal Assault and Liquid Attack on Children Leaving Mexican Dance Event

A brief video clip has captured widespread attention in recent days, sparking a heated debate in Chicago.

The incident involves a dance studio in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood, where parents and children are feeling targeted, and a local couple who admits their actions were inappropriate and now feel threatened by the public’s reaction.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Around 10 p.m. last Friday, a woman was recorded shouting from above, “You’re lucky ICE isn’t here.” Subsequently, a man appeared and poured a glass of an unidentified liquid over the balcony. This liquid splashed onto a group of parents and children leaving a Mexican folkloric dance class near Belmont and Pulaski.

“Everyone was just saying goodbye to each other. Some kids were walking out with their parents when suddenly the neighbor started yelling and cursing at us, telling us to be quiet,” recounted dance student Violeta Ochoa Salabert.

The online release of the video has fueled accusations against the couple, with many alleging assault and racism. ABC7 interviewed the pair to gain their perspective on the events.

“That video paints us in a terrible light. We look like monsters in it,” the man confessed.

They are trying to put some context into what it was like from their perspective.

“It was almost like a beer garden back there, out of nowhere. Forty to 50 people that late at night, I lost it. You woke up a sleeping bear, and it’s not one incident. It’s ongoing, seven nights a week,” the man said.

The couple, both of whom are Latino, said they were just trying to sleep and expressed deep regret over their reactions and their words.

“I was insensitive when I said that. I shouldn’t have said that,” the woman said. “It was more like, I’m surprised ICE hasn’t been here already, because of how loud they are. This is what ICE looks for.”

The dance studio’s owner told ABC7 over the phone that this incident was not the first, and she had called the police before. Students in class on Sunday said they have witnessed other outbursts as well.

“Same thing, he comes out and starts yelling and swearing at them. These are kids under the age of 13, 14,” said Ochoa Salabert.

“Everybody is quickly in and out, in and out, and it’s very disappointing,” said parent Darcy Moreno.

Dance students and their families are now being asked to come and go out of the front, rather than through the alley, for safety’s sake.

Police were at the studio on Sunday, taking statements. The dance studio’s owner, meanwhile, said she is going to court on Monday to take out an order of protection against the neighbors. The couple told ABC7 they just want an opportunity to sit down and hash this out together.