A white man in North Carolina, apparently with nothing better to do, called the police on a black woman he assumed couldn’t afford to swim in the pool of her upscale neighborhood, reports the NY Post.
Is #PoolPaul related to #PoolPatty?
There’s been way too much policing of black people’s leisure time.
On the Fourth of July holiday, Jasmine Edwards said she couldn’t even find peace at her neighborhood pool and took to Facebook to record her interaction with an out-of-line nosey neighbor. The white man, allegedly called the police because he didn’t think she had enough money to live in the ritzy neighborhood and luxuriate at the exclusive pool.
“This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool,” wrote Edwards.
“This happened to me and my baby today,” she said, in reference to her encounter with police, which was captured on cell phone video. “What a shame!!”
Edwards said the man — identified by his lawyer as Adam Bloom — approached her and asked to see her ID card, which she didn’t have. But he apparently didn’t ask the same of the other white folks lounging at the pool.
“Where does it say that I have to show an ID to use my pool? My own pool,” she asks on video while speaking to Bloom in front of cops.
“It doesn’t say she has to show an ID anywhere,” another resident chimes in.
The police even tried to explain to Bloom that Edwards didn’t need to show ID.
“I feel this is racial profiling,” Edwards says.
—Mom records kindergarten teacher bullying son in heartbreaking audio clip—
“I am the only black person here with my son — and he walked all the way to me, to ask for my ID. 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 my ID? Is there an ordinance in the neighborhood?’”
Bloom replies saying that he asks residents “pretty much a couple times a week” to see their IDs.
Who died and made him President of the Pool Patrol!
Bloom has since lawyered up.
John Vermitsky, his attorney, told The Post that Bloom works for the Glenridge Homeowners Association, and is the pool chairman and board member. He said that makes him qualified to ask residents for ID.
“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,” Vermitsky said.
“[Edwards] became loud and confrontational, and he wanted to make sure that the situation was handled properly.”
When one of the officers asked Bloom if residents were required to carry a pool access card, Edwards replied:
“Yes! I have one! That’s how I got in!” Edwards says. “What can I charge against him for racial profiling?! Because this is ridiculous.”
—London mayor approves Donald Trump baby balloon during his visit—
“I’m just here with my baby — swimming,”
“I understand. I understand completely,” the cop replies. “If she has a card to get in the pool, I believe that should be enough.”
That should have been enough, but Bloom continued to pay cop and said:
“Okay, let’s validate that it works then.”
Edwards opened the gate with her card but it still wasn’t good enough for Bloom.
“They kinda make their way around sometimes,” he says, speaking to the cops. “But that’s good enough for me today.”
Just wow.
“We’ve seen #PermitPatty, #BBQBecky and now I give you #PoolPatrolPaula ‘s other half #PoolPatrolPeter,” tweeted one person about the incident.
“#PoolPatrolPaul Is gonna be fired before he gets home from work,” another online user said.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Bloom quit his pool chairman and board member positions on Thursday night, effective immediately.
“We sincerely regret that an incident occurred yesterday at our community pool that left neighbors feeling racially profiled,” the homeowners association said in a statement. “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.”
Now Bloom, much like the other nosey white people who have to deal with backlash from minding their business, is crying foul.
“This guy is really having a very difficult situation and dealing with backlash for something that’s pretty undeserved,” his attorney explained.
“If you notice, he remains very calm — doesn’t make any racial epithets or anything. He was put in a very uncomfortable situation, trying to deal with conflicting responsibilities, and it’s simply unfair. This guy is in a very difficult situation, and it’s all because of a very misleading video.”
Well, apparently Bloom’s employer has a different opinion on the matter and terminated him.
We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one our employees outside of the workplace, and we have released this statement. pic.twitter.com/vl8Vk4ykoc
— Sonoco (@Sonoco_Products) July 6, 2018
We guess Bloom will have plenty of time to hang out at the pool now.