'Apartment Patty' Fired After Blocking Black Man

D'Arreion Toles was trying to enter his apartment building
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2018 12:13 PM CDT

In the latest high-profile "living while black" incident, a white woman attempted to block a black man from entering his building in St. Louis, then called the police on him after he successfully made his way into his apartment. D’Arreion Toles recorded the Friday night encounter with Hilary Brooke Mueller, who was outside with her dog and repeatedly asked Toles what unit of the Elder Shire Lofts condominium complex he lived in. After he managed to get past her and into the building, she followed him into the elevator and all the way to his door, the New York Times reports. About 30 minutes later, police arrived at the unit and told Toles that Mueller had reported being "uncomfortable" with his presence; he told police he rented the unit and had shown Mueller his key fob. No one was cited, KMOV reports.

He posted videos of the encounter on Facebook, where Mueller became known as "Apartment Patty" (reminiscent of "Permit Patty" and other such nicknames). Eventually her identity was uncovered and her employer, real estate management company Tribeca-STL, posted a statement on its website saying she had been fired. (The website is currently down.) Neither Mueller nor the police have yet commented on the situation, but Toles tells the Times he felt unsafe, even concerned he could end up like Botham Jean, the black man shot dead by a police officer in his own Dallas apartment. Even so, he asked supporters not to attack Mueller. "I am not upset with her. I am not going to go after her legally or anything like that," he says. "I wish her the best. I would still have a conversation with her." (This woman called 911 on a black lawmaker.)

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