North Carolina Man Calls Cops On Black Woman For Using Her Neighborhood Pool
#IDAdam is the latest in a cavalcade of white self-deputized busybodies targeting POC in public spaces.
Police were called to a Winston-Salem North Carolina neighborhood on Wednesday after a white man (Adam Bloom) confronted Jasmine Edwards, a black woman, about whether or not she had a right to be at the Glenridge community's private pool, prompting allegations of racial profiling.
The incident response with police, which was caught on video and posted on Facebook by Edwards, sparked a vibrant backlash on social media with folks dubbing Bloom #IDAdam, #PoolPatrolPaul, and #PoolPatrolPeter.
Racial profiling at its worst!
Posted by Jasmine Edwards on Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Edwards wrote on a 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." Her video has had nearly 4 million views on Facebook, and has been shared more than 80,000 times.
In it, Bloom can be seen admitting that he wanted Edwards to show him her ID. She challenges him to show her the ordinance that says she has to produce her ID to be there and explains that she has already told him her address as proof of residency and that she has an electronic access card that allowed her to enter the locked pool area. Police verified that she had a valid access card for the pool and can be seen on the video apologizing to Edwards for "the time and the altercation that occurred."
People online were outraged, quickly dispatching their unique brand of activism and vigilante justice:
This is Adam.
— Exavier Pope (@exavierpope) July 5, 2018
He harassed black woman Jasmine Edwards and her child calling the police on them seeking a ID for her entering her own pool. Even after police show her key card works, he says “THEY kinda make they way around sometimes” #whileblack
Racism is a cancer. pic.twitter.com/IgmA7NfFsi
Adam Bloom from Winston-Salem, North Carolina called the cops on
— Simar (@sahluwal) July 6, 2018
Jasmine Edwards, a black mother, & her child because he didn’t think they belonged in the community swimming pool, even though she clearly had her pool pass. Bloom works at @Sonoco_Products.pic.twitter.com/ZzW6GRv2Ua
Is your company ok with the way your employee Adam Bloom treated this resident who lives in the same community as him? https://t.co/NFYZl8hSdp
— Mel Iss A Bee (@CoolHandLukka) July 5, 2018
And the cops didn't get a pass either:
Is Jasmine Edwards going to file a complaint with the police dept? Those officers were empowering Adam Bloom to harass her. They even asked him if there was anything else he wanted them to do. Instead, they were required to inform him that he had no right to demand her ID. #wtf
— FullBitchMode (@khosvlo) July 5, 2018
First questions the officer(s) should have asked Adam Bloom upon arrival, before even confronting Jasmine Edwards, are “Can you, without a doubt, unequivocally confirm that all the other patrons utilizing the pool currently are in compliance? If so, explain to me how in detail.”
— B ł L ï A ö C ñ K (@pramey_2) July 6, 2018
The confrontation comes on the heels of a recent string of incidents across the country in which busybody white people have been caught on video calling police to report people of color who are otherwise going about their everyday lives and videos of racist tirades by whites in public spaces including:
The Winston-Salem Journal reports:
An attorney representing him said Bloom, who served as the pool chairman and as a board member for the community's homeowner's association, was doing his job when he asked for an ID because another resident had questioned whether the woman was a member of the pool.
According to an announcement from the Glenridge Homeowners Association Thursday afternoon, Bloom tendered his resigned for his position as the pool’s chairman and board member, effective immediately. In their statement, they said:
We sincerely regret that an incident occurred yesterday at our community pool that left neighbors feeling racially profiled. In confronting and calling the police on one of our neighbors, the pool chair escalated a situation in a way that does not reflect the inclusive values Glenridge seeks to uphold as a community.
Bloom was also terminated from his position with packaging supplier Sonoco (whose website shows a commitment to diversity), after the company received hundreds of social media messages about the 4th of July incident from concerned citizens.
Sonoco posted a statement on its Facebook page today saying that:
...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.
The Glenridge Homeowners Association reports they have:
...re-instituted a sign-in sheet at the pool to make sure no resident feels singled out again.