Sparkes, who said he is a Democrat and identifies as Cuban-American, denied making a racist comment. He stated that he was instead annoyed with Thomas for bringing too many groceries into the express checkout line. In a subsequent interview, Thomas said, "I don't know if he said 'go back,' or those types of words ... I don't know if he said 'go back to your country' or 'go back to where you came from,' but he was making those types of references is what I remember."
