Hilary Brooke Mueller is speaking out in the wake of the controversy surrounding the release of a video of her blocking a black resident in her apartment building from entering his home.
The Missouri woman defended her actions after the viral video, shared on Facebook, Friday, showed her attempting to prevent D’Arreion Toles from entering St. Louis’ Elder Shirt Lofts.
She was subsequently terminated from her job, and claims she has received death threats.
The 32-year-old told the outlet that she was “simply” inquiring whether or not he was a fellow resident.
“I simply asked if he lived there because the direction from the association is … that if you don’t know the person, you don’t let them in,” Mueller said to Fox2, claiming that Toles did not initially show her his key fob.
“It’s the only indicator that any resident has that they live in the building, he would not answer me. He would not show me one,” she continued.
Mueller said the backlash from the video has included death threats. “There are truly no words. That is absolutely false and heartbreaking,” she said in response to being called a racist. “Those are words that truly cut deep.”
Two days after Toles shared his video of Mueller, her employer issued a statement on theirwebsiteconfirming she has been fired.
“Tribeca-STL was recently shared a video containing a disturbing interaction that we believe is important to clarify. The video did involve one of our employees, but the event did NOT take place at Tribeca-STL and did NOT involve one of our tenants,” the real estate company said.
“The video is showing the employee in her private life at her own residence interacting with another person. The Tribeca-STL family is a minority-owned company that consists of employees and residents from many racial backgrounds. We are proud of this fact and do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company,” the company said. “After a review of the matter the employee has been terminated and is no longer with our Company. At Tribeca-STL we want all residents, guests and visitors to feel welcome, safe and respected.”
Toles also reflected on his encounter with Mueller in an interview. “I was kind of blown away, shocked and like ‘wow.’ I am just glad I had my camera out. If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way,” he told localCBS station KMOV4.
Toles also added that he has no ill will against Mueller. “Like I said, don’t respond negatively. Don’t go after the lady. Let her be at peace. Let her live her life,” he said. “I am not mad at her. I am not upset with her. I am not going to go after her legally or anything like that. I wish her the best. I would still have a conversation with her.”
source: people.com
