California police have launched a hate crime investigation after a woman was filmed using racial slurs at a black woman.

The incident unfolded at a parking lot in the Bay Area over the weekend.

"Due to the nature of the verbal exchange between the involved parties, the incident has been classified as a hate incident and is currently under investigation by the department’s criminal investigation bureau," the Pinole Police Department said in a statement.

The woman who was verbally attacked says she was targeted for no reason.

"It's quite unfortunate the verbiage she was using. It's unacceptable," she said to local news outlets.

"I don't understand why she was using it towards anybody in public at all. She's obviously not supposed to be using that type of vulgar language."

According to NBC, the license plate of the car in the video is registered to an individual facing charges for stealing from a cosmetics store.