Barely days after the last ridiculous reason, police got involved in something unnecessary, when a white man in the US called them because a black woman was using her own pool.
Humanity has sighed collectively, asking ‘Again? Really?’
Jasmine Edwards was enjoying time in the pool close to where she lives when the incident took place.
She was spending time with her son when a member of the residential community’s home owner’s association approached her.
The man, Adam Bloom, allegedly asked to see Jasmine’s proof she was allowed to use the pool – which is for use of residents of the Winston-Salem neighbourhood in North Carolina. Jasmine refused to show Bloom her ID.
Bloom then took this as an excuse to get the police involved, and Jasmine captured the situation on camera.
Watch it here:
She posted the video to Facebook where it’s since been watched over 4.5 million times.
The post read:
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!!
In the video, Jasmine asked Bloom ‘where does it say that I have to show an ID? Does it say that?’ before pointing out that no one else at the pool was asked for ID.
She went on to say:
I feel this is racial profiling I am the only black person here with my son in the pool, and he walked all the way to me, to ask for my ID.
Bloom tried to defend himself, explaining he asks for IDs a couple of times a week.
Jasmine continued to relay the series of events, saying:
He asked for my address. I give it to him, and then he came back and said, ‘Well, I didn’t catch your address correctly. Can you provide an ID to prove the address that you gave to me?’
And I said, ‘Why do I have to show you my ID? Is there an ordinance in the neighbourhood for me to show my ID?’
Bloom’s lawyer spoke to the New York Post about the event, explaining Bloom also lives in the neighbourhood and works for the Glenridge Homeowners Association as the pool chairman, a position which requires him to ask people for ID.
The lawyer also claims it was somebody else who had initially questioned Bloom about Jasmine’s right to be in the pool.
He said:
He had a pool member come to him and say ‘this person doesn’t appear to be a pool member’ and asked to check their credentials, as he’s required to do so.
[Edwards] became loud and confrontational, and he wanted to make sure the situation was handled properly.
The police officer told Jasmine if she wanted to pursue matters, ‘that would be a civil dispute mam you’d have to take that before a civil magistrate’.
In the video, Jasmine also points out she has a card which allowed her to get into the pool in the first place – something only those permitted to use the pool are likely to have.
In response to this, the policeman says:
If she has a card to get in the pool, I believe that should be enough.
However, this still doesn’t seem to convince Bloom she’s allowed in the pool, and he says they should close the gate to the pool and check if her card works.
The police confirmed the card works, and asked if either of the two need anything more from them. Bloom replies, ‘a form of ID would have been helpful to validate’.
Jasmine then asks Bloom if he wants to apologise to her, but he ignores the question.
After news of Bloom’s actions were shared, the company he worked for, Sonoco Products, fired him.
The company posted to Facebook to say:
We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one our employees outside of the workplace. 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.
Bloom also stepped down from his role as ‘pool chair’, so he’ll definitely have no excuse to ask for people’s IDs in the future.
Shocking!
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.