A white woman was fired from her job after she tried to stop a black man going into his own apartment building in St Louis.
D’Arreion Toles said he was coming home from work when neighbor, Hilary Brooke Thornton, physically blocked him from entering the building at the luxury block in the Missouri city.
He posted three videos of the incident on Facebook, appearing to show the woman blocking him from the door as she walked her dog at the Elder Shirt Lofts in the downtown area on Sunday.
Ms Thornton was fired from her job as a luxury realtor after the video provoked outrage.
The 32-year-old lives in the same block as Mr Toles, but her company does not manage the property.
She is seen in the mobile phone footage demanding proof he lives in the building, which has a pool and spa, plus its own wine bar and entertainment deck.
After Mr Toles pushed passed her, Ms Thornton then got in the elevator with him and followed her fellow resident to his front door to make sure he actually lived in the block.
When she first encountered him at the communal door she said, ‘do you live here? I’m sorry the keypad is right there, I’m sorry I’m uncomfortable [getting out the way].
Mr Toles, who was still standing in the street, replied, ‘you’re blocking me into my building, it’s my building as well, so can you just get out of my way. I live here and your blocking my way. I’ve already buzzed in’.
While holding a glittery phone and a dog lead and placing her arm across the door, the Ms Thornton was said to have replied, ‘I’m not touching you at all, I’m not doing anything other than letting my dog go to the bathroom.
‘You just walked off the street and don’t have a keypad. You pushed your way in.’
She then asks him what unit he lives in, to which he replied, ‘I don’t have to tell you that information, what unit do you live in?’
He simply says he lives on the fourth floor as she repeatedly says ‘no’ while trying to stand in from of the open door.
As he pushed passed her she shouts ‘are you kidding me?’ and follows him as he heads to an elevator and asks ‘where are you going?’ and asks him is he has a key-fob similar to hers.
She then gets in the lift with him and says as they ride in the elevator ‘no, I want to see who you are going to see’.
As the pair get out of the lift and he walk towards his apartment she adds, ‘I want to introduce myself as a neighbor’.
Ms Thornton then follows him to his door and he threatens to call the cops for harassment saying ‘please stop following me, I do not want to speak with you’.
D’Arreion Toles said after the incident police came to his door because she called officers to report him.
She was named as the woman in the video by social media users and confirmed by her former partner, Brandon Mueller, who posted on his Facebook page.
She is said to have graduated in marketing in 2009 from Miami University in Ohio, according to Heavy.
In a caption alongside the video, Mr Toles, who says on his social media page he is the chief executive officer and owner at Global Wealth Insights Corp., wrote: ‘To Be A Black man in America, & Come home, women tries to stop me from coming into my building because she feels insecure, Downtown St. Louis luxury loft, because she don’t feel that I belong, never really thought this would happen to me, but it did!
‘Then 30 mins later police knock on my door, because she called! I was shocked this is America in 2018!’
After an investigation Tribeca Luxury Apartments in St Louis said it was ‘disturbed’ by what happened and confirmed the woman was an employee, but that the incident did not happen at one of its properties.
The company added that the woman’s position was ‘terminated’ and she was no longer with the firm.
A statement on the company’s website read: ‘Tribeca-SLT was recently shared [in] a video containing a disturbing interaction that we believe is important to clarify.
‘The video did involve one of our employees, but the event did not take place at Tribeca-STL and did not involve one of our tenants.
‘The video is showing the employee in her private life at her own residence interacting with another person.
‘The Tribeca-STL family is a minority-owned company that consists of employees and residents from many racial backgrounds.
‘We are proud of this fact and do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company.
‘After a review of the matter the employee has been terminated and is no longer with our company.
‘At Tribeca-STL we want all residents, guests and visitors to feel welcome, safe and respected.’
The video has received more than 4 million views and has been shared over 120,000 times.
Mr Toles told KMOV: ‘I appreciate all of the love and support. Like I said, don’t respond negatively. Don’t go after the lady. Let her be at peace. Let her live her life.
‘I was kind of blown away, shocked and like wow. I am just glad I had my camera out. If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way.’
He added that he is not upset with Ms Thornton and isn’t going to take legal action.
He said: ‘I am not mad at her. 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.’
–
Source: Daily Mail
