Man arrested and fired after Black YouTuber posts video of racist confrontation
"I'm a racist, OK? So what's the issue," a man in Arizona said directly into a camera. He was talking to YouTuber Andre Abram, who was filming the encounter as his friend also filmed it from behind. Abram and his friend, who are both Black, were recording a video in Scottsdale last Friday when the man approached them and used a racial slur.
"This is a no [N-word] zone," the man said to Abram, who held a phone up to record him.
"Not really," Abram calmly responded to the racial slur. "It's not a no [N-word] zone, because I'm here."
"But you don't live here," the man says, laughing.
Abram tells the man he does live there and that he and his friend are going to film their YouTube video. After exchanging a few more words, the man walks way.
Abrams posted the raw footage of the racist confrontation on Instagram, as did his friend. On Friday, Abram also uploaded video of the incident to his YouTube channel, DreTV, and it received widespread attention after it was shared by the activist Shaun King.
The video not only prompted outrage in the comments section, it led to the man, who has been identified as Paul Ng, being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the incident, Scottsdale police confirmed to CBS News.
Abram told The Arizona Republic he was shocked by the man's comments. "I was in disbelief that I was hearing the words that I was actually hearing. It was a moment that really boggled my mind — and it still does even to this moment," he said.
Meanwhile, a real estate firm where Ng had worked announced it was cutting ties with him.
In a statement posted online, Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty said that on Sunday it learned of "an extremely hateful and racist video that was posted to social media showing one of our inactive Independent Contractors, Paul Ng, demonstrating abhorrent, unacceptable behavior."
"Upon learning of this video we took immediate action in severing his license, terminating his involvement with us effective immediately and condemning his disgusting behavior," the statement continues.
Russ Lyon also said it notified the Arizona Department of Real Estate "with the recommendation that his license be revoked."
Ng had not sold a home with Russ Lyon in two years, but the company said "commissions we find going back further than that will be donated to local charities."
CBS News has reached out to Abram and Ng for more information.