The owner of a Melbourne after-school arts studio has closed her business after a racist outburst at a Bunnings store was followed by death threats.
Alice Krause, founder of Monarchs Arts Studio, was also warned that the child-focused premises could be firebombed after she was filmed telling an Asian motorist to “go back to China”.
Footage from the confrontation at Bunnings Hawthorn on Wednesday shows Krause, wearing a blue jumper, directing insults through the open driver’s-side door of the man’s vehicle.
The motorist can be heard repeatedly saying, “I go straight, you give way,” as Krause points at him.
“You filthy, go the f*** back to China,” she said.
“That’s not how you drive in this country.”
Krause arrived at her Hawthorn studio on Friday afternoon to speak with a television news outlet, then left through a side entrance and was driven to an undisclosed location.
The Auburn Road premises had been vandalised, with the word “racist” spray-painted in black across two front windows.
Monarchs Arts Studio founder Alice Krause arrives at her Hawthorn business on Friday
The word “racist” was spray-painted across the front windows of the Auburn Road studio in Melbourne’s east
A man removing the graffiti told the Daily Mail that Krause is “not a racist”
Krause appeared at the studio after publishing an apology for the incident.
“I am writing to publicly apologise for the racist remarks I made to a man in a video that has been shared widely online,” she wrote.
“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…”
The artist and teacher also apologised to her students, clients and their families as the future of her after-school business remained uncertain.
“To my students at Monarchs Art Studio, I am sorry I let you down. I’ve asked you to treat each other with kindness and respect, and you had every reason to expect me to live by those same standards. You deserved a better example from me,” she said.
“To the parents, carers and families who have trusted me with their children, I am deeply sorry. You trusted me to create a studio where children feel welcome and respected. My behaviour has given you reason to question that trust…”
A man seen by the Daily Mail removing the graffiti, and later driving Krause away from the studio, said she was not a “racist”.
However, he agreed that her comments during the Bunnings confrontation were racist.
Krause leaves her studio after speaking with a television news outlet
Krause stood in front of the motorist’s car during the confrontation
The artist and teacher apologised to clients as the future of her after-school business remained uncertain
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 man, who said he did not work at the studio, told the Daily Mail that it 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 windows.
“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.”
He confirmed that Krause had given a lengthy interview to a television news outlet earlier on Friday as she attempted to repair her reputation.
“I’m not going to speak for her, she’s spoken for herself, but I know she’s not racist. What she said was racist; it’s certainly unfortunate and very regrettable,” he said.
Krause, wearing a blue jumper, directed insults through the motorist’s car door during Wednesday’s confrontation at Bunnings Hawthorn
The man said he did not know whether parents had cancelled classes after the video went viral on Thursday, though he expected some probably had.
He added that many people had offered support, while nearby businesses had volunteered to help remove the two “racist” tags painted on the studio windows on Friday morning.
“The community and her clients have been very supportive,” he said.
The incident attracted widespread attention after the motorist’s son posted the footage to Reddit, writing: “My parents got vile racist remarks slung at them at the Bunnings Hawthorn car park by a middle-aged woman.”
The footage shows the motorist closing his door before Krause walks to the front of his car, places her hands on her hips and blocks its path.
The man said Krause had received death threats following the incident
The motorist’s son alleged that Krause had attempted to merge into his parents’ lane without indicating and sounded her horn when they did not allow her to move across.
“She proceeded to block them from parking in a spot with her car, and then mum pulled out her phone and this video occurred,” he wrote.
“Dad left to park in another spot after this.”
In his Reddit post, the man described the behaviour as “straight up just unAustralian”.
“Honestly, I never thought this would happen in Melbourne, especially not out in public, so brazen and fully unabashed,” he said.
“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.”