A woman made a racially offensive gesture at an Asian-American man following an alleged road rage incident

• James Ahn claims that he was involved in a road rage incident near Fremont, California, last week.
• Ahn, who said he was driving at the speed limit, said a woman who was speeding followed him and attempted to provoke him by making gestures that implied she was going to "crush" his car.
• Ahn claims that the woman made racially insensitive comments and gestures.
• Ahn told INSIDER that he feels the police didn't take his charges seriously. 
• A representative for the Fremont Police Department told INSIDER that there was not enough evidence for the situation to be considered reckless driving or a hate crime.

A man named James Ahn claims that he was involved in a racially motivated road rage incident near Fremont, California last week.

In a now-viral Facebook post from Monday, Ahn said that he felt like the incident was a hate crime. He claims that a woman, who police previously declined to identify, followed him and made threatening gestures because of his race.

"I was driving in Fremont last week and this lady started the racial harassment while threatening me on the road only because I wasn't driving fast enough for her," he wrote.

Ahn told INSIDER that he was driving at the speed limit of 35 miles per hour when the driver behind him began flashing her high beams and following him from lane to lane. She eventually stopped short in front of him. 

"As I changed the lane, she kept driving towards my car gesturing to crush me and cutting in front of me to slam on the break," Ahn wrote in his Facebook post. "I later realized that this was more like a hate crime than a road rage."

Ahn told INSIDER that he was concerned that he might get into an accident, so he asked his friend to record what was happening. Ahn said the woman had just begun to talk just before they turned the camera on.

"This is not your f---ing country. This is my country. This is not a Chinese," the woman said in the video before she made an offensive gesture. "Chinese ugly, ugly Chinese."

Ahn, a Korean-American Air Force veteran, reported the incident to the Fremont Police Department, but he told INSIDER that it seemed like the police didn't take him seriously from the start. Ahn said he believes that the police officers treated his case like a "joke."

Ahn claims that when he reported the incident, officers downplayed the situation because the drivers didn't get into an accident or have any physical contact. 

Ultimately, the police didn't have enough evidence to charge either party with reckless driving, a representative for the Fremont Police Department told INSIDER. 

The representative for the department also said the actions captured in Ahn's video, which they described as "insensitive" and "hurtful," aren't considered a crime. 

In a statement given to the police, the female driver alleged that Ahn provoked her before he started recording, according to the FPD representative.

"The female alleges that the male half rolled down his window and yelled at her first, telling her to go back to her f----ing country," they said. "She then says her comments were in response to him yelling at her."

Ahn denies these allegations, which he said he first learned about on Twitter. 

The Fremont Police Department could not establish evidence to charge either party with a crime regarding the incident, which ultimately boiled down to a he-said-she-said situation, a representative for the department told INSIDER. 

"Unfortunately, the comments and gestures the female displayed during the incident are not a crime," the representative for the department said. 

They also said the situation could not be considered a hate crime. "For a hate crime, you first have to have a criminal act and then you have to prove it was motivated by the person's race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation," they said.

Ahn told INSIDER that he is frustrated with the way the police department handled the case and communicated with him, but he hopes they use it as an opportunity to learn to do better.

But the FPD stands by its investigation.

"We are by no means taking a side and are very upset by what transpired in our community. We have an incredibly loving diverse community that is accepting and compassionate," the representative for the department said. "This behavior is not reflective of our community.  It's unfortunate to watch and view hate speech such as this, but we can't charge someone with a crime if the elements can't be established."

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