Woman Fired After Blocking Black Man From Entering His Apartment
(CNN) -- A white woman has been fired after video emerged of her confronting and blocking the entry of a black neighbor at a St. Louis apartment complex.
"Please move, miss," the black resident, D'Arreion Toles, is heard telling the woman on viral cell phone video he recorded late Friday as she blocked him from entering the downtown loft complex where they both live, CNN affiliate KMOV reported.
"I can," she said. "Do you live here?"
In a statement, the woman's employer said she was fired after a review of the incident, the station reported.
"The Tribeca-STL family is a minority-owned company that consists of employees and residents from many racial backgrounds," the statement said.
"We are proud of this fact and do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company. ... At Tribeca-STL we want all residents, guests and visitors to feel welcome, safe and respected."
The statement said the incident occurred in the woman's private residence and not at a Tribeca-STL property.
The episode was the latest involving white people who are captured on video either confronting or calling the police on black people going about their everyday lives, including waiting in Starbucks, working as a home inspector, shopping at Nordstrom Rack, sleeping in an Ivy League dorm common room and barbecuing in a public park.
In New York last week, a white woman in Brooklyn apologized after video was posted online of her appearing to call New York police to say a 9-year-old black boy grabbed her behind.
Late Friday, as Toles returned home to the Elder Shirt Lofts apartments, a neighbor with a small dog blocked his entry and demanded proof of residence, the station reported. He taped the encounter on his cell phone.
"You're blocking me," he told her.
"Into my building."
"It's my building as well. You need get out of my way."
"OK, what unit?"
"I don't need to tell you that information. Excuse me, miss."
"I'm uncomfortable."
"OK, you can be uncomfortable. That's your discretion. You're uncomfortable because of you."
Toles eventually showed a key fob and moved past the woman, KMOV reported. She followed him to his fourth floor apartment.
"I was kind of blown away, shocked and like wow," he later told the station. "If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way."
The station reported that attempts to reach the woman were unsuccessful.
"I am not mad at her," Toles said, according to KMOV. "I am not upset with her. I am not going to go after her legally or anything like that. I wish her the best. I would still have a conversation with her."
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