Penn State defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins was the target of a racial slur in Cambridge, Ohio, according to a report from the York Daily Record. The alleged incident occurred on Sunday.

Hawkins was traveling to his home in Cincinnati when the incident occurred. He called his father, Artell Hawkins Jr., after the encounter but did not inform the police of the incident. However, Artell did meet with a patrolman to inform him of the situation, which happened at a convenience store.

Artell claimed his son was “harassed” during the encounter.

Aeneas posted the story on Twitter in a long thread. From his Twitter account:

I’m posting a thread to share a hostile experience I had about 30 minutes ago. I’m on a road trip back home, and stopped for gas about 3 hours away. As I’m coming out of the store after paying for my gas, I made eye contact with a white man who’s about 30 years old.

He stared longer than I thought was normal, but I thought nothing of it. I’m a larger man in all Penn State gear, so maybe he knew I played ball. As I walked though, he yelled “F*** you! You black son of a b****”

Although taken a back, I kept it moving. He wasn’t physically threatening me. Not worth my time. I proceeded to pump my gas. He then, whips around to my pump and gets out the car and stares at me.

Worth noting, he had some sort of hate song blasting when he pulled up. At that point, I felt threatened. I remained calm, and peaceful, but was prepared to do what was necessary to defend myself.

After a minute or so of staring he got back in his car and whipped off. That was the end of it.

Although my inclination was to jump through his face when he stood close to me, I know that I’ll always be guilty before proven innocent. Although I had done nothing out of the ordinary to invite conflict, it found me just for LWB.

I’m posting this to remind my brothers and sisters of color to stay aware of their surroundings and to be safe. Although that man is not representative of this entire country, the anger and hate he has in his heart represents enough for my people 2 be extra cautious at all times.

Aeneas Hawkins will be a redshirt sophomore at Penn State during the 2020 season. He appeared in one game for the Nittany Lions last season.