An Australian family targeted in a racially abusive road-rage confrontation has spoken out after the woman who told them to “go back to China” issued a public apology.
A video recorded in the car park of a Bunnings store in Hawthorn, Melbourne, on Wednesday shows a woman wearing a blue jumper directing a stream of insults through the open driver’s-side door of a car.
The driver can be heard repeatedly saying, “I go straight, you give way,” as the woman points at him.
“You filthy, go the f*** back to China,” she says.
“That’s not how you drive in this country.”
The driver’s son, Daniel Chen, posted the footage on Reddit, where it quickly went viral and triggered widespread outrage over the woman’s conduct.
The woman was later identified as Alice Krause, the founder of Monarchs Arts Studio.
Krause subsequently faced threats that her studio, which is attended by schoolchildren, would be firebombed. The word “racist” was also spray-painted across the front window of the premises.
A viral video captured Alice Krause, wearing a blue jumper, shouting through the car door during the road-rage confrontation at Bunnings Hawthorn
Daniel Chen issued a lengthy statement on behalf of his family after Krause apologised
The front windows of Krause’s Auburn Road studio were later marked with black spray paint reading “racist”
Krause later apologised publicly on television and in a written statement, saying she had let down her art students and their families.
“Saying ‘go back to China’ is cruel and degrading. I take full responsibility for saying this. To the man I spoke to, I am deeply sorry. You deserved to be treated with dignity and respect. I insulted you and spoke to you as though you had no right to belong here. That was wrong…”
Over the weekend, the family released a statement written by Chen in response. They said Krause had not apologised to them directly, but added that a personal apology was not required.
“We don’t think there’s any need to apologise to us in person,” the statement said.
“We just hope she really takes some time to think about why she felt that way about us in the first place. We hope she can change the way she sees people from different backgrounds, not just feel sorry about what happened.
“We also hope what happened makes other people with similar views stop and think.”
The family said that kind of reflection would be more meaningful than an apology alone.
They also expressed their gratitude to the young women who intervened during the confrontation and challenged Krause’s behaviour.
Krause stood in front of the car during the racist outburst
A man removing graffiti from the studio said Krause had been subjected to death threats
“She didn’t know us at all, but she stepped in when she saw what was happening. We were so touched by what she did,” the family said.
“She reminded us that there are so many good people in Australia. To us, she showed what being a good Australian really means.”
“We hope something good comes out of all this. We don’t want more anger or hatred. We just hope people can be a little kinder to each other,” they wrote.
“And to everyone who has sent us messages and shown us support, thank you so much. It really means a lot to us.”
The family said they would normally choose to “walk away” from such incidents to avoid conflict. However, the young women who intervened had inspired them to support others facing similar situations.
Chen also issued a separate statement, arguing that behaviour of this kind must be confronted.
“You would think in 2026, that reminder wouldn’t be necessary,” he said.
“Behaviour like this should never become so normalised that people feel comfortable expressing it without consideration for the harm it causes to others.
Krause quickly left the studio after media crews arrived following the video’s release
“Thank you to everyone who has shown their support, shared their stories, and stood with us throughout this.”
The Daily Mail previously spoke to a man who was removing graffiti from Krause’s after-school art studio and was later seen driving her away from the business.
The man, who said he did not work at the studio, agreed that Krause’s comments at Bunnings were racist but insisted the incident was out of character and did not reflect who she was.
He said he had known Krause for “quite a long time”, but declined to discuss the nature of their relationship, calling it a “personal question”.
The unidentified man told the Daily Mail that the studio would not reopen for the foreseeable future.
“Look, this is not safe, this is a children’s venue, this is violence,” he said while pointing to the graffiti he was removing from the Auburn Road studio’s front window.
“There’s been death threats, there’s been people threatening to firebomb, it’s dangerous, it’s dangerous to expose kids to that kind of violence.”
In the original Reddit post, Chen described the incident as “straight up just unAustralian” and said he wanted to bring attention to what had happened.
“Honestly, I never thought this would happen in Melbourne, especially not out in public, so brazen and fully unabashed,” he wrote.
“They’ve been in Australia for almost 30 years, so I’d wager they’ve been in Australia for almost as long as this lady has been alive.
“It’s made me quite upset, so I’m posting this to spread awareness that this kind of public racism is growing, and it needs to be seen firsthand to be believed.”