ST. LOUIS _ Videos showing a white neighbor blocking a black man from entering his downtown St. Louis loft got national attention over the weekend including more than 5 million views on Facebook and coverage in The New York Times.
D'Arreion Toles, 24, was trying to enter his home in the Elder Shirt Lofts building, 703 North 13th St., Friday night when a white woman guiding a dog on a leash blocked him and asked what unit he lives in, according to videos he posted to Facebook. The post says the videos show what it's like to be a black man in America.
"I'm uncomfortable," the woman says in the video, arguing that he pushed his way into the building.
"OK, you can be uncomfortable," Toles says. He tells her he used a key to get in and said he didn't have to give her his unit number, which she requests.
The video shows the woman eventually getting into an elevator with Toles and following him to his apartment.
"I'm going to my house," Toles tells her as she walks behind him down the hall. "Where I live at _ where I pay."
The woman continues to watch as Toles enters the apartment with a key.
About 30 minutes later, St. Louis police officers knocked on Toles' door, presumably called by the woman, according the post.
It's not clear how long the officers were at the building or what actions they took. The St. Louis police department did not immediately respond to questions seeking confirmation or details about the call.
Toles could not be reached by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The woman also could not be reached for comment Monday, but her employer, Tribeca-STL Management, posted on its Facebook page saying that she had been fired.
"(We) do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company," the statement read.
In videos after the encounter, Toles said he doesn't want to bash the woman, but hopes the negative interaction will lead to less people facing the same kind of behavior.
The video is the latest example in St. Louis of outrage after police are called on a black person doing nothing wrong.
In May, Nordstrom Rack leadership apologized to the families of three young black men after they were falsely accused of stealing from the Brentwood store and police were called.
In July, the City of Clayton issued a formal apology to a group of black Washington University students who were stopped and falsely accused of leaving an IHOP without paying. The police were responding to a dine-and-dash call at the restaurant when they stopped the students. The officers had them return to the restaurant followed by squad cars despite some of the students providing receipts for their meals.
