*Los Angeles community activist Najee Ali is calling for an immediate end to alleged death threats against Master Burger employees, telling EURweb that the worker involved in a viral racially charged confrontation has resigned and that demands for accountability must not become threats of violence.
The appeal marks a sharp second chapter in a controversy that erupted after video circulated showing a heated verbal dispute between a Black female customer and a Latina Master Burger employee. The confrontation triggered anger over racial language used during the exchange and calls for action against the worker.
Ali, senior organizer with the National Action Network and founder of the L.A. Black Breakfast Club, was among those demanding accountability. Now, he says the response has crossed a dangerous line.
Employee Resigned, Ali Says
In a statement emailed directly to EURweb on Tuesday, Ali said he spoke with a Master Burger manager and was informed that the employee involved in the confrontation had resigned. EURweb has not independently confirmed the resignation with Master Burger.
Ali also said Master Burger employees have received death threats following the controversy. EURweb has not independently verified the alleged threats.
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“This must stop immediately,” Ali said in the statement, which he also posted publicly on Facebook.
“When I first saw the video, I made it clear that both the employee and the customer were wrong,” he continued. “Racism, racial slurs and hate speech are unacceptable no matter who uses them, and no matter what the circumstances or provocation may have been.”
But Ali said offensive words do not justify threats of violence or death.
Accountability Without Threats
Ali is also trying to reach the unidentified Black woman involved in the confrontation. He asked anyone who knows her to convey his position that the community should not respond to a verbal dispute or offensive behavior with threats.
The distinction is central to Ali’s new message. He isn’t backing away from demands for accountability over the original incident. Instead, he’s drawing a line between demanding consequences and threatening people’s lives.
“We cannot fight racism with more hatred,” Ali said. “We cannot demand accountability while threatening people with violence.”
The episode also demonstrates how quickly a viral confrontation can move beyond the people originally involved. What began as a dispute between a customer and employee is now, according to Ali, affecting other Master Burger workers who had no role in the confrontation.
Black and Latino Unity Takes Center Stage
Ali is particularly concerned that the incident could inflame tensions between Black and Latino Angelenos.
“We cannot allow one ugly confrontation to damage the important relationships between Los Angeles’ Black and Latino communities,” he said.
“There is a long history of Black and Brown communities standing together to fight discrimination, economic injustice and racial inequality. We should not allow an incident like this to divide us.”
That framing is significant because the original confrontation involved a Black customer and a Latina employee. Ali’s statement rejects turning the actions of two individuals into a broader racial conflict between communities.
For Ali, accountability and reconciliation aren’t mutually exclusive. His position is that offensive conduct can be condemned without extending blame to coworkers, a business’s entire staff or another ethnic community.
Viral Outrage Has a Line
Ali has frequently appeared in EURweb coverage as a Los Angeles activist pushing institutions and public officials for accountability. Earlier this year, for example, EURweb reported on Ali and other civil rights leaders urging Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer to address policing and public-safety concerns in Inglewood.
His Master Burger statement applies that accountability standard in both directions: condemn racial hostility, but condemn violent retaliation, too.
“At the end of the day, we need to put an end to hate, racism and intolerance—regardless of who is responsible,” Ali said.
He pledged to continue standing for “accountability, justice, peaceful protest and Black and Brown unity.”
The employee’s reported resignation may have answered one demand arising from the viral confrontation.
Ali’s message now is that whatever accountability people sought, alleged death threats are not part of it—and one ugly encounter should not be allowed to become a Black-versus-Latino fight.
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