Black Man Sitting Alone at His Own Apartment Pool Asked to Leave

Black Man Sitting Alone at His Own Apartment Pool Asked to Leave

By Cherie Saunders, EURWeb.com

A Black man says he was told to leave the pool at his own apartment complex where he has been renting a unit for more than a year after an off-duty cop working as a security guard demanded he show his exact address.

Shayne Holland told the Indianapolis Star that he was racially profiled when he went to the pool to relax following a workout last Friday. Seated by himself, he was approached by an off-duty police officer working as a security guard at his apartment complex. The woman, seen in a video Holland posted to Twitter, reportedly asked if he lived in the area then asked for his address without identifying herself. He showed her his apartment key, which gives him access to the pool, but declined to give his exact address.

“When she asked where I lived, I said ‘I don’t know you and you haven’t identified yourself, so I’m not just going to give you my address,’” Holland told the Star. The security guard then asked a property manager to confirm Holland’s residency.

Things escalate as Holland continually refuses to give his address before he is told to leave the pool area by the officer. “Why do I have to leave my pool?” he asks the property manager, who replied that he had to go because he declined to answer the guard’s questions.

So yesterday at River Crossing at Keystone at the crossing we were kicked out of the pool and our BBQ was shut down for no apparent reason as this lady who said she was “property manager” preceded to let every white person that was there stay and only kicked out all Black ppl.

I actually, live here, so I’m assuming they told the police that it’s not too many Black people that do so if you see one make sure you get their address. RiverCrossing Apartments.

I asked everyone in the pool if the police officer asked their name address and confirmation. The white woman @ the pool responded, she didn’t do nearly as much for us as she did for you…

“Honestly, I don’t want to jump to racism,” Holland told Indianapolis’ ABC affiliate, WRTV, about the encounter. “I don’t want to say she just pointed me out because I’m the only Black dude in the pool, but that was the case.

The company that manages the complex, Barrett & Stokely, addressed the incident on Facebook and said a guard was on site that day after several people had used the pool without being residents and then refused to leave.

So yesterday at River Crossing at Keystone at the crossing we were kicked out of the pool and our BBQ was shut down for no apparent reason as this lady who said she was “property manager” preceded to let every white person that was there stay and only kicked out all Black ppl.

The agency said the property manager seen in Shayne Holland’s video has been placed on administrative leave while it reviews the encounter.

“We are disappointed that we weren’t able to handle this situation in a way in which everyone felt respected and understood,” Barrett & Stokley said in a statement. “We should have communicated with all residents that we would have security on site, who would be asking for proof of residency.”

This, of course, is just the latest in a growing trend of similar incidents, including “ID Adam” in North Carolina who questioned a Black woman and her son about using a pool and demanded identification; “Pool Patrol Paula” in South Carolina who is accused of striking a 15-year-old black teen and telling him he didn’t belong at a pool; “Permit Patty” in California who threatened to call the police on an 8-year-old Black girl selling water; and “BBQ Becky” in California who called the police on a group of Black people having a barbecue at a park.