Jay Phillips had only stopped for a moment Friday to talk to an old friend when the red truck drove by.

Four men — two inside, two in the bed, were yelling at him — threatening him and his family.

Phillips didn’t know the guys, and yelled back.

What happened next is now a popular YouTube video, titled Monday morning “Black Man Fights Off White Supremacists.”

“If nobody says anything or does anything, they’re going to do this again,” said Phillips in a television interview.

The video shows three Caucasian men circling Phillips, yelling racial slurs and throwing punches. Phillips holds his own, even knocking one to the ground when he tries to kick him. All three of the attackers give Phillips body shots until two cars pull into the parking lot of the apartment across 18th Street from McDonald’s where the assault was happening.

When the vehicles pull in, the three men and a Jack Russell Terrier jump in their truck driven by a fourth who doesn’t participate in the fight and leave, still yelling on their departure.

The original video posted on YouTube was removed by the company after comments were submitted that included the suspected address of the assailants.

A new version was posted Monday, with a note from the contributor asking the public to not comment with addresses again.

Phillips said he’s thankful for video — saying that it makes incidents of racism in the Comox Valley real.

“Otherwise it would have been three/five guys’ word against mine,” said Phillips, who wound up with a few stitches and bruised ribs. “I don’t want this shit to ever happen ever again.”

Comox Valley RCMP said in a statement Monday that one arrest had been made in connection to the assault and that “others are expected.”

They noted that while their investigation continues, preliminary assessments indicate that there “may have been a racial element involved in the incident.”

Const. Trevor Busch said members did attend a report of the assault in progress on Friday but at the time, had no leads. When the video was posted though, it changed gears.

“Video evidence is always very important to us because it provides us an impartial view of the incident,” said Busch.

Philips said he’s speaking out about the assault because he doesn’t want it to happen to other people. He said there’s been other incidents of racially motivated attacks in the Comox Valley, and they need to stop.

“I’m doing this for all of them and everybody who can’t defend themselves,” said Phillips.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to phone Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com