Missouri Woman Fired After Video Showing Her Blocking Neighbor From Condo Goes Viral

A Missouri woman was fired from her job after a video showing her attempting to block her neighbor from entering their apartment building went viral, garnering over 5 million views, but she spoke out for the first time saying she was only trying to follow the building’s policy.

D’Arreion Toles said he was returning to his apartment in St. Louis on Oct. 12 when Hilary Brooke Mueller (born Hilary Brooke Thornton), who also lives at Elder Shirt Lofts, confronted him and demanded to see proof he lived in the building.

Toles asked her to move but Thorton insisted for identification.

“Please move, ma’am,” Toles said in video footage he recorded and released. “I can. Do you live here?” Thornton told him. Toles responded, “I’ve already answered that question. Excuse me. … You’re blocking me.”

The effort to block Toles continued though he said he finally made it past.

Toles then said 30 minutes after he arrived at his apartment, the police knocked on his door. They said Thornton had called them. “I was shocked this is America in 2018!” said Toles, who is black and believes Thornton, a white woman, was being racist toward him.

Fired

Thornton’s employer, a real estate company, issued a statement on Oct. 14 announcing she'd been fired.

“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,” the company said.

“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 company also clarified that it does not own the building where the confrontation happened.

Thornton Speaks Out

Thornton spoke out publicly for the first time on Oct. 16, saying Toles did not have a key fob to get inside the building and forced his way in.

“When I noticed an individual that I did not know here, my only thought was to follow directions I had been given by condo association board members repeatedly; and that’s to never allow access to anyone that you don’t know,” she told Fox 2.

Thornton said the condo association outlined the policy in multiple emails to residents.

Thornton said when she saw Toles get out his key fob to get inside his apartment, she left. She also said she’s received death threats over the incident, and been called a racist.

“That’s false and heartbreaking,” she said. “Those are words that cut deep.” She said she’s married to Brandon Mueller, a black person.

‘Don’t Respond Negatively’

Toles said he has no ill will against Thorton and hopes others will not harass her.

“Don’t respond negatively. Don’t go after the lady. Let her be at peace. Let her live her life,” he told KMOV.

“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.”

He also said he’s glad he had his camera out and recorded what happened. “If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way,” he said.

From NTD.tv