40-year-old Adam Bloom was accused of racial profiling after asking a black woman to show him her ID before she could use the community pool.
As a result of their argument, he was fired from his job.
The video of Bloom’s confrontation with Jasmine Edwards, a young mom, was shared online and quickly went viral.
Bloom, a member of the local community homeowners association, and also the pool ‘chair’ asked Edwards to prove that she was entitled to be there.
He first asked for her address, and after she gave him her complete address, he asked for an ID as a proof that she lived there.
When Edwards refused to show him her ID, soon police arrived at the scene, and their argument was captured on a video, which Edwards shared on Facebook.
As a result, Sonoco, the company where Bloom was employed, fired him immediately.
“We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one our employees outside of the workplace,” Sonoco said in a statement.
“The well-documented incident, which involves activities at a neighborhood pool over the 4th of July, does not reflect the core values of our Company, and the employee involved is no longer employed by the Company in any respect.”
Edwards wrote in her Facebook post: “This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool. This happened to me and my baby today. What a shame!!”
One of them called the cops, although it wasn’t clear which. The footage shows the police trying to reason between the two.
“Where does it say that I have to show an ID to use my own pool?” Edwards asked.
Bloom then claimed that he asked other residents to show their IDs because he is a member of the community association. But a woman who was at the pool that time claimed that nobody asked for her ID.
“I am just here with my baby swimming,” Edwards exclaimed, adding that she was the only black person at the swimming pool.
The police stated that the fact Edwards had a key card should have served as enough proof that she was able to use the facility. Then, they took the card and swiped it against the gate to show that it really worked.
“A form of ID would have been nice,” said Bloom, who grew embarrassed throughout the clip. As he walked away, Edwards demanded an apology, but he simply ignored it.
What’s your take on this? Do you agree that he should be fired from his job? Let us know in the comments section below!