Hatboro woman behind viral racist pizza shop rant sentenced on harassment charge, must apologize
The judge ordered Rita Bellew to stay away from Amy's Family Pizzeria and apologize to owner Omar Quiñonez after she was caught on video berating him for playing Spanish-language television.
The Hatboro woman who went viral in 2023 for her racist rant against a Montgomery County pizzeria owner was sentenced to 90 days of probation and eight hours of community service as part of a plea agreement.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman sentenced Rita Bellew, 56, on Dec. 14 in connection with Bellew’s actions in February at Amy’s Family Pizzeria in Hatboro.
The episode, which was caught in a since-deleted TikTok video, has been reposted and viewed upward of 400,000 times across X, formerly known as Twitter, and Reddit. The video depicts Bellew, who identified herself as a certified public accountant, berating pizzeria owner Omar Quiñonez for playing Spanish-language television in his restaurant.
» READ MORE: Woman’s racist tirade captured at a Hatboro pizzeria is going viral on TikTok and Reddit
In the expletive-fueled rant, Bellew questioned Quiñonez’s immigration status before asking for a refund. Bellew then called Quiñonez an un-American “ignoramus” while threatening to “get [him] out of town.” Police were called.
According to a criminal complaint, Bellew shrugged after learning she was barred from the restaurant, saying, “I’m white, I’m white, I’m racist.”
Ferman also ordered Bellew to stay away from the pizzeria and write an apology to Quiñonez and his staff.
A misdemeanor ethnic intimidation (hate crime) charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Bellew’s summary harassment charge — which means she admitted to engaging in conduct that served no legitimate purpose with an intent to harass or alarm — is similar to a traffic violation.
“I think the plea agreement is appropriate under the circumstances,” said Bellew’s lawyer, Patrick J. McMenamin. “We never felt that her conduct rose to the level of misdemeanor ethnic intimidation.”
McMenamin said that Bellew was in the “final stages” of writing her apology to Quiñonez and his staff. She told The Inquirer 10 days after the episode that she was “profoundly sorry.”
“I don’t want to make excuses,” Bellew said.
Bellew said her rant was precipitated by a breast cancer diagnosis and a “tough” week of managing her father’s health issues.
“Whatever happened in there was a combination of everything” going on, Bellew said. “It was a pressure cooker.”
» READ MORE: Woman whose racist pizza shop rant went viral says she is ‘profoundly sorry’ after charges are announced
A motion from Bellew to transfer her case to Montgomery County’s Behavioral Health Court, which services people with severe mental health problems, was denied after officials determined her psychological evaluation didn’t indicate a severe mental illness, the Pottstown Mercury reported.
“She has some stressors in her life,” McMenamin Jr. said of Bellew, who is undergoing counseling. “But she’s learning how to cope with those issues.”
Bellew’s viral rant had some unintended consequences: Internet vigilantes looking to identify Bellew after the video went viral ended up doxing and harassing three innocent women who happened to be blond accountants at Philadelphia-area firms.
» READ MORE: A woman went on a racist rant in a Montco pizza shop. TikTok vigilantes went after three innocent accountants.
In the weeks after the video went viral, Amy’s Pizzeria received a deluge of positive attention.
The shop’s Yelp and Google accounts were inundated with five-star reviews, Quiñonez told WHYY at the time, and people drove from out of state to try the pizza.
Nonetheless, the episode was frustrating.
“I feel bad, angry, sad … . And the more that I think about it now, it’s getting worse,” Quiñonez said.