A Missouri woman who appears to go out of her way to prevent a black man from entering his luxury loft apartment is reportedly out of a job less than a day after the video went viral on social media.
Residential developer Tribeca-STL said in a statement issued to The St. Louis American that the woman seen in the video was an employee but noted that the recorded incident didn’t take place at one of their properties. In light of the ordeal, the company said the woman no longer works as their property manager.
“The video is showing the employee in her private life at her own residence interacting with another person,” they said.
“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.”
The announcement comes a day after D’Arreion Toles posted a video to Facebook showing the unidentified female resident apparently preventing him from entering his St. Louis apartment building. KMOV reported that Toles, whose Facebook page indicated he’s the CEO of Global Wealth Insights, was returning home from a late night at the office when he filmed the encounter.
At the beginning of the video, the woman can be seen standing in front of an entryway as she orders Toles to present his key card and provide his unit number.
Toles can be heard repeatedly telling her to move out the way, to which she responds by mentioning how “uncomfortable” she’s feeling. Moments later, Toles is heard instructing the woman to stop touching him.
Toles says, “I live here and you’re blocking the door.”
“Which unit?” the woman, with a dog in tow, asks.
Toles is overheard saying that he doesn’t have to provide his unit number to her before saying he lives on the fourth floor. After some back and forth, he apparently moves past the woman who continues to berate him and ask where he lives.
The woman, now in the elevator with a silent Toles, is heard asking who’s he going to see. She then says if Toles does live here she would like to know more about him as he’s a “neighbor.” It’s an offer that Toles is heard declining for the remainder of that video—and two subsequent videos—as the woman continues to follow him.
Toles’ video has garnered more than 4 million views as of Sunday evening. In the caption, he alleged that police knocked on his door 30 minutes after the taped encounter “because she called.” KMOV reported that responding police left without issuing a citation or placing anyone under arrest.
“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,” Toles told the news station. “I would still have a conversation with her.”
To Be A Black man in America, & Come home,Women tries to stop me from coming into my building because she feels…
Posted by D'Arreion Nuriyah Toles on Friday, October 12, 2018
[Featured image: Facebook video screengrab]
