A white woman was fired Sunday after a video of her blocking a black man from entering his St. Louis apartment building went viral, according to a Monday report from HuffPost. In three videos of the encounter that were posted to Facebook by the resident, D’Arreion Toles, the woman stood outside the door of their apartment building with her dog, blocking Toles from entering the building despite his repeated insistence that he lived there. She repeatedly asked Toles which unit he lived in, and justified her actions by telling him she felt “uncomfortable.” After Toles gently pushed past her, she followed him into the elevator, onto his floor, and to his apartment door, demanding to know where in the building he lived.
The woman’s employer, Tribeca Luxury apartments, released a statement Friday condemning her actions. “The Tribeca-STL family is a minority-owned company that consists of employees and residents from many racial backgrounds,” it said, according to HuffPost. “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.” Toles took a softer stance, HuffPost added, telling KMOV 4 that he will not press charges, that he wishes her “the best,” and that he “would still have a conversation with her.”
