A confrontation inside a Goleta laundromat is going viral after a man is seen calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on people speaking Spanish.
A Goleta resident, who has requested anonymity, was visiting Lucky Coin Laundry in the Storke Plaza shopping center at the intersection of Hollister Ave and Storke Road on Saturday, August 23.
The resident stated she overheard an employee of the laundromat being yelled at by a man over an issue with a locked laundry door.
The resident stepped in when she heard the man begin to use racial slurs toward the primarily Spanish-speaking employee and stated the man was threatening to call ICE to allegedly deport the employee.
The man then reportedly began harassing the resident along with the employee. The resident began filming the man as he stepped outside. He can be seen in the below video on his phone stating, “I’m calling ICE.”
“Well you got a big issue now lady ’cause I aint letting it go. I’m calling ICE and I’m gonna ask them to come down here,” the man said.
In communication with edhat, the resident stated this man was on the phone with someone and describing what people looked like. He also said he promised to return every day until every Spanish-speaker was gone.
“This is not what we should stand for,” the resident stated. “The community should be aware. This type of behavior is not tolerable.”
This video has received over 25,000 views on social media and over 400 comments, some appearing to be from local residents. Some commenters have stated the man is local to the Goleta area and has a history of harassing others in this shopping center.
[Update]: Information from edhat readers appear to have confirmed this man’s identity as Robert Jeffery Fesslinger. According to Megans Law, a statewide database that provides public information on sex offenders, Fesslinger was convicted of rape by force in 1989. He is listed as a transient in the Goleta area.
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Yosemite Sam is mad.
Totally! He sounds like he’s got issues. Does ICE ever come when clowns like this call them? No. Nothingburger. He needs to fade away.
Do you know that ICE didn’t respond? No. Of course you don’t.
They have quotas and constantly advertise their racist rat hotline for reporting brown people. If you think they just ignore calls then you’re not paying attention.
Yeah, screaming at people and terrorizing them is a “nothingburger.” What a POS.
The biggest clown is the one who sent ICE out to prey on the populace.
I hope if ICE shows up, there is a quick evacuation. They don’t just go for actual targeted perps, if you look at them cross eyed, or they THINK you do, and you might accidentally get a short vacation on a cement floor
Typical MAGAt.
Let’s see who will come to his defense.
Using your super powers again sacjon? Just from a picture you can tell the whole story.
Sail comes to this racist’s defense! We knew you could do it buddy.
Apparently Sail is incapable of drawing any inferences from “I’ll call ICE.” OTOH, it’s hilarious that he thinks that the *picture* is that of a typical MAGAt.
Yet another great use for a leash. Leash that hateful POS to his RV so he can’t go around terrorizing innocent people.
Probably lives in the RVs that they allow to park forever in that shopping center.
This is headline news?
So was this you, zip?
No, Zips. This is one of many articles posted today on a local site that focuses on local news and other things
This isn’t the New York Times.
So yeah, when a racist MAGA POS starts threatening local residents because they speak Spanish, it gets a little traction.
Sad that telling this story bothers you. Unlike you, the vast majority of local residents don’t approve of this crap.
It’s a report of a local hazard, d__b f__k.
Hate is rotting him from the inside out. Call him out when you get the chance.
“Call him out” amd you may find yourself getting assaulted by this fool. It’s not an online thing. Good luck.
Basic, that’s an ultra Charmin soft response. I could handle this guy. I would recommend some basic self defense instruction if you feel you couldn’t.
I could lay this guy out too, and then what? Go ahead and get jailed for assaulting this fool if you want. I guess I have a lot more to lose than you do, and this homeless clown has almost nothing to lose. Or were you just going to yell at him? Maybe hold up a sign?
I think most of us “could handle this guy” physically. lol…
Basic – no you couldn’t, you seem to ultra Charmin. Anyone who says things like “I don’t give a hoot” are either a grandma, or a bottom. You literally said ““Call him out” and you may find yourself getting assaulted by this fool. ” If I get assaulted by this guy he’s done. Sounds like you are scared to be in the same parking lot. Basic says “Don’t say anything to the mean man because he may go Boo.” Go back to your cubicle and take the Airbus home to Ventucky. Don’t spill the juice box on your desk.
” I guess I have a lot more to lose than you do” No, your heart is empty and you are soul-less. You have nothing to lose.
Basic, some people will step in and defend those who are being abused. Others will just silently watch or walk away and ignore it. You’ve already shown which one you are, it’s okay.
what? you just cave in always, dont you. guys like this are easy to deal with. I grew up being bullied and know how to handle racist fools like this. i’d love to run into him someday.
It wasn’t long ago when people like sacjon were tripping over themselves to report their neighbors who weren’t wearing masks or walking on the beach. Both seem wrong.
Not the same thing, but nice try.
It also never happened.
You aren’t the brightest bulb in the pantry.
right wingers like zippie the p_n h__d are utterly morally corrupt. That’s why they can’t say anything without inserting a whatabout, and they have not a care in the world about whether their whatabout is factual.
I will go out of my way to now shopp at that shopping center and hopefully come across this POS.
That man is homeless and lives out of his broken down RV in the Target parking lot. He is apparently making America great again using coin op laundry.
Homeless or not, no one should be harassing employees because of their ethnicity or language.
Zips – I don’t report anyone for anything unless it’s a crime.
You guys gotta stop crying about covid. This isn’t a public health threat.
The police should arrest this creep for harassment. So grateful the resident intervened in this awful treatment of an employee. The wacko would benefit from focusing on improving himself which could take him quite a while and learn to practice self restraint and kindness. The discrimination that this employee experienced is inexcusable and frankly pathetic. So glad the resident had the courage to protect the employee and film it.
Nah, F that guy, he’s over and the sooner gone the better.
If only this was just a one-off nutcase. We are in such deep doo-doo in this country right now. Greed, hatred, delusional ideas about what is “right.” It’s the end of the American idea. People are so stuck in their silos, hating each other, what can the result be? Nothing good, nothing that bodes well for the whole of us. This guy is a sad loser, who has never had any power, and right now he can lord it over someone even more powerless, so he does. It’s pathetic, and if we don’t find a way to get rid of this fascist administration (which looks less and less likely every day) it is going to become more and more common. Powerless people with a grudge getting revenge.
The MAGA cult has made hate the number one American value.
Right. Reject all bothsidesing.
keep the immigrants. deport thev racists.
He should have called a behavioral therapist and the fashion police on himself. What a clown. When people don’t take you seriously because you have nothing of value to add, you have to throw a tantrum clinging onto anything you can come up with in desperation to be heard…work on yourself hatefilled person.
Robert was just frustrated. I spoke with him later that morning and at church Sunday. All he wanted to do was wash his clothes. Unfortunately no one would explain to him in English why the laundromat was opening over an hour late. Robert doesn’t speak Spanish so he got very frustrated.
He has been working to get rid of the hate. He has been improving over the past couple years since he started coming to church. BTW the church is a multilingual, multicultural church. Please get to know someone before making assumptions.
Church isn’t working too well, obviously.
Just imagine what he must have been like a couple of years ago!
Actually it’s doing quite a lot for him. That Sunday he shared in the service how ashamed he was about how he handled himself during the incident. At least he can admit he made a mistake.
Do you keep him away from children at service? He is on Megyn’s list.
Trouble is, these churchies have the attitude that they can do anything they want, because they can always be forgiven later.
“Please get to know someone before making assumptions.”
Oh the irony. Saying “I’ll call ICE” to people speaking Spanish isn’t getting to know them.
He got very frustrated IN A WAY THAT REVEALED HIS HATEFUL BIGOTRY. Sheesh. You aren’t helping him by defending him and attacking people here for “making assumptions”.
Tell me you’ve never gotten frustrated and made a mistake. At least he realized it after the fact. He is working to get rid of the hate that ruled him, not feed it.
You mean it’s OK to make assumptions about people?
blah blah extraordinarily dishonest blah
Brilliant argument. In any event, there’s only one judge Robert will ultimately have to answer to and that is our Lord in Heaven.
Ciero, Was “Bob” just a little frustrated by women when he commited forcible rape?
Have I defended or excused his criminal record? What he did there was, is, and always will be wrong. He was found guilty and served his time in prison. I’ve tried to focus on the event of this article.
Yeah, a get out of moral judgment free card by transferring all moral judgment to something that DOESN’T EXIST.
You are defending him here and crying about people not forgiving him. You’re a bad person and you gather together with other bad people who together virtue-wrap themselves in “church” and “Christ” (whose teachings you ignore).
Ciero, You’ve purposefully hidden the most sick and dangerous elephant in the room. You’ve defended a sick bigot and brushed his forcible rape under the rug and defended MAGA. There is a festering infection in this church of yours.
He sounds more like a follower of Zeus.
Choose your invisible friends carefully.
“Brilliant argument.”
It wasn’t an argument, I WAS CALLING YOU OUT for your extraordinary dishonesty–your evasive deflecting whataboutism and your strawman.
Why are so many of you churchgoers fundamentally bad people?
It’s always wHaTaBoUt YoU with you people.
We all get frustrated at times, and we all make mistakes.
That’s not what this is.
This man acted on his bigotry and hatred of brown skinned people, and appeared intent on threatening their very freedom. He was accurately emulating the disgusting racists of social media and the current administration.
I don’t see how you can come into a public discussion and defend his behavior as “a mistake”. You are making the same kind of assumptions about him, that he is working on himself and the church is helping him, only because it feeds your religious arrogance. You need more capacity for self reflection.
Frustrated? Sure. Made a mistake? Sure.
Reacted to my feelings by trying to intimidate and terrorize someone and by hurling racist language at them?
Never. Not once in my entire life.
Sounds like you think that’s just fine, how many times have you done this?
And I don’t need to go to church to know that this is wrong or to find help controlling my behavior.
@Ciero9 – so what will Bob and the church do if ICE actually does show up and start arresting people at this laundromat? This isn’t someone who lost their cool and misspoke, this action could bring irreparable harm to local community members and their families because of Bob’s actions.
Or Dear Jesus, this is the most ridiculous BS drivel I’ve ever read. Sounds like a church condones racist behavior. What is the name of this “church”?
Cherokee, do you make sure that this person stays away from children that attend your church?
“Information from edhat readers appear to have confirmed this man’s identity as Robert Jeffery Fesslinger. According to Megans Law, a statewide database that provides public information on sex offenders, Fesslinger was convicted of rape by force in 1989. He is listed as a transient in the Goleta area.”
Everyone at the church is well aware of his history because he shared it with the entire congregation. He spent maybe 30 minutes describing his history. So yeah, we know him. We aren’t worried because he has turned to Christ and we’ve witnessed his changes.
“turned to Christ”
So he’ll be doing more raping and voting for Trump.
“We aren’t worried because he has turned to Christ and we’ve witnessed his changes.”
He’s calling ICE on brown people, you wretched racist MAGAt.
It sounds like the values of the church are sick and they do not protect children. You sound like a dangerous leader.
CIERO – this man is a rapist and a racist. He clearly hasn’t stopped being a racist. You SHOULD worry about him.
Look, I’m not one of those anti-religion atheists and I won’t ridicule you for believing God forgives all sins if you believe in Him (if that makes you feel comfortable), but that has NOTHING to with his place after death. This man is a threat to our society NOW.
Your church is doing the rest of the community no good by making excuses for him.
Nothing worse than a fake Christian. GTFO with your enabling nonsense.
*ciero (not Cherokee)
“just frustrated”.
Awwwww. Poor thing.
So when will he return to reach out to the innocent person that he abused and terrorized and get on his knees and humble himself and ask for their forgiveness?
Or does your church not teach these kinds of actions?
I’m sure he would if he could contact them. The question is would they forgive him? Too many people in this country, across the entire political spectrum are unwilling to forgive. It’s part of what has caused the extreme partisanship we see today.
You right wingers only forgive your own–you like it when Trump pardons traitors, rapists, and murderers. The cause of extreme partisanship is the fascist right.
“We aren’t worried because he has turned to Christ” We can see you are pushing far-right Christian nationalism which is the backbone of fascism.
CIERO – just stop it. Don’t blame the divide between the left and the wrong on the unwillingness to forgive.
you and your religious arrogance are disgusting. you spend 30 minutes listening to him and he says a few words about wanting Jesus in his heart and you just lap it up like it’s honey because it confirms your unsupportable beliefs. And now, to cap it off, you think “he’s just fine”, and it’s the people he attacked who are the problem because you don’t think they’d forgive him for being a racist a-hole to them and threatening to call the ICE pigs. What the spiny, acrid eff is wrong with you? Oh wait, I forgot, yOu Go tO CHurCh!
LOL, of course the guy repping the church only wants this guy to seek forgiveness if he has a guarantee that the person will forgive him. You don’t seem to understand what a true apology and making amends actually is.
Have you ever actually read the Bible?
And what do you mean if he could contact them.
HE KNOWS WHERE THEY WORK.
Here’s a suggestion for you and your lovely multilingual congregation and the rapist and racist that you make excuses for.
Ask a couple of your Spanish speaking congregants and your rapist congregant to get some cookies together. Take the cookies to the laundromat. Get on your knees in front of the person that your congregant abused and terrified. Apologize. Ask for their forgiveness. Give them cookies. If they don’t forgive you, then forgive them for that.
Take your rapist pal and clean up some roads in the community. Do something good and stop patting yourselves on the back.
Ciero, “Too many people in this country, across the entire political spectrum are unwilling to forgive.”
Dude – he called ICE on them. A bystander had to get involved because he was aggressive and saying bad things. He raped a woman – with force. How is any of this “political”. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus emphasizes personal responsibility for justice, mercy, and love—even toward enemies. Bob wasn’t showing any of these values to the people he harassed so it is unbelievable that you bring politics into this.
The president of this country has normalized this behavior.
His overt racism and xenophobia are making this conduct openly commonplace amongst us.
It’s contrary to the very sentiment that sustains the beautiful fabric of this nation.
And this will be Trump’s darkest legacy.
One of the many local MAGA supporters.
Republicans are perennial snitches. Like the kid with the propeller hat and the big lollipop.
Found him. Robert Jeffery Fesslinger. Convicted of rape by force in 1989. Listed as a transient in Goleta. He has a risk score of 4 which is Moderate-High Risk.
Source: Megans Law: https://www.meganslaw.ca.gov
Get this guy a job in the Trump administration with all the other assaulters!
Isn’t is likely that this man has mental health issues that come out in this sort of encounter? We definitely should not presume sane and rational thought from this outburst. Or do folks just adore having a patsy to stand for their adversary? Such bad form on all sides.
In fact, he could be both mentally ill and a horrible human being. Or maybe he’s just a vile POS.
Either way, if your go to is to threaten people and terrorize them because of the language that they speak–jump right off the Earth, no need for you here.
Did this guy’s mental health issues cause him to rape someone too? Plenty of people with mental health disorders do not rape people, do not go on racist tirades, and do not threaten to call the gestapo on fellow community members. Really odd of you to defend this guy.
Sorry, if you are railing against immigrants and bringing ICE into it, it is NOT a both sides thing. It has been pointed out that he is a convicted rapist and on Megan’s list (but go ahead and defend him). Only repugs speak up about “both sides” when they’ve been triggered.
Incredible bigotry. Those who condemn him AND accept that he is mentally incompetent but seem to think that because his incompetency expresses itself in opinions that they find abhorrent want to condemn him to prison or worse. Not unlike Trump’s call to impose the death penalty on all people charged with homicide in DC.
“Incredible bigotry. Those who condemn him AND accept that he is mentally incompetent but seem to think that because his incompetency expresses itself in opinions that they find abhorrent want to condemn him to prison or worse. Not unlike Trump’s call to impose the death penalty on all people charged with homicide in DC.”
What the flying eff are you on about? And stop hiding your id so people can tell which other comments are yours.
Why do you assume that Mr. Fesslinger has mental health issues, while also assuming that no one who is in prison does?
“expresses itself in opinions that they find abhorrent”
You don’t?
“Not unlike Trump’s call to impose the death penalty on all people charged with homicide in DC.”
Could you POSSIBLY be more dishonest?
Look, you’re here attacking everyone else but to everyone else you appear to be a dreadful person.
Don’t conflate two unrelated things, just because you don’t understand them. Using the possibility of a mental health issue to explain racial bigotry is a thoughtless insult to everyone who actually suffers from it. It doesn’t work that way. Racial bigotry is its own thing, regardless of any mental illness.
Only one side is bad here, ANON: the side that is OK with rapists and makes excuses for racism. That’s you.
“We definitely should not presume sane and rational thought from this outburst. ”
Who did that, Mr. Strawman?
“Such bad form on [some] sides.”
His and yours.
Typical type who voted for this travesty.
Ice only arrests criminals our local cops release back into society.. a local employee is hardly one of these criminals.obviously , people need to assimilate. Rumor has it, there are a tremendous amount of people in the southcoast area illegally. Our useless political representatives haven’t made any effort to introduce legislation to help these people become citizens. I consider that a crime.
BAD- “Ice only arrests criminals”
No they don’t. Stop lying.
DullS – not all undocumented immigrants crossed the border illegally, therefore they’re not all criminals.
Very uneducated thing to say.
Also, ICE has arrested MANY legal citizens and residents.
Why do you insist on sounding so clueless?
Oh my, you are so out of the loop. Tell that to the US veterans who have been arrested and detained for three days without being charged and then released without an apology. Must be nice to be so ignorant.
Anon – I don’t know all the circumstances regarding the US veterans being arrested, but there definitely needs to be an investigation to determine the facts that led to these arrests. The officers involved in the arrest should be suspended until the investigation is complete. If determined to have acted improperly their termination is a reasonable option. The veterans would have a good civil case against the officers and their organization(s).
LOL, you have perfect recall when you parrot the Trump administration’s lies, but when it comes to the facts you’re suddenly uninformed.
How fun to be intentionally ignorant.
DOULS – it’s not hard. It’s very simple. No investigations needed.When a US citizen is arrested by ICE, then ICE effed up. Full stop. They have no authority over US citizens.
If ICE arrests a legal resident, then ICE effed up. Full stop. Arresting a legal resident means they did not do their job right and profiled someone based on their skin color. ICE cannot do that. That is illegal. Full stop.
Nothing hard to understand about this.
“Ice only arrests criminals our local cops release back into society..” Did you hear that on Newmax? It’s wrong. In fact ICE has detained and arrested completely innocent US citizens many times, and way more undocumented people with zero criminal records than that.
I would suggest that you need better news sources, but here your are on Edhat, so your problem is that you won’t read anything that doesn’t feed your biases.
Nope.
Hey bad, we can tell that you’re a right winger and pedo-fascist-Trump supporter from the fact that you are lying trash and a racist.
Why is it that so many people who act aggressively horrible toward others are people whose behavioral ugliness shows on their faces and bodies? The reverse isn’t true; many unattractive people actively help and encourage others.