ST. LOUIS — A white woman shown on a viral video blocking a black man from entering a loft to his downtown St. Louis apartment was fired from her job Sunday, KMOV reported.
In a cellphone video posted to his Facebook page, D'Arreon Toles documented a confrontation between himself and a female tenant at the Elder Shirt Lofts. Toles, 24, said he was returning from a late shift Friday when the woman, who was walking a dog on a leash, asked what unit he lives in, the Post-Dispatch reported.
In the video, Toles can be heard telling the woman, "You are blocking me into my building. This is my building as well. So, I need you to get out of my way."
“I’m uncomfortable," the woman says in the video.
"OK, you can be uncomfortable," Toles says in the video.
In the video, the woman follows Toles to the front door of his apartment, KSDK reported.
Thirty minutes later, St. Louis police appeared at his apartment, according to Toles’ Facebook post. No citations were issued,
"Did this really just happen to me? It happened to me. I am really taken away by the moment," Toles told KMOV. "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."
“To Be A Black man in America, & Come home,” Toles wrote on Facebook.
Tribeca-STL, which says it is a minority-owned business, confirmed that the woman worked for the company, KMOV reported. In a statement, the company's owners said they were "disturbed" by the video.
“We do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company, Tribeca-STL said in its statement.
The woman, who has not been identified publicly, did not respond to requests for comment by several news organizations.
"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, Toles told KMOV. "I wish her the best. I would still have a conversation with her."