Adam Bloom, A "white" man who called North Carolina police on a black woman who was using a private community pool with her child no longer has a job because of the "terrible incident," his company said Friday.
The man's employer, packing company Sonoco, said in a tweet Friday that it was made "aware of a terrible incident" at a private community pool.
On Friday, police released audio of Bloom's call, in which he tells a dispatcher that "we have a non-resident that's at the pool that refuses to leave." When asked by the dispatcher who he is, Bloom identifies himself by name and says, "I'm chairman of the pool."
"We'd be happy to have her here if she would just show some identification," Bloom tells the dispatcher of Edwards.
In a statement, Winston-Salem Police Department said officers "maintained neutrality" when they arrived and spoke with Bloom and Edwards, and ultimately determined that Edwards "had a pool access card which did in fact provide her proper access to the swimming pool. Our officers determined that no crime had been committed during this incident."
The incident has garnered national attention. Social media users shared a Facebook post in which Edwards called it a "classic case of racial profiling" — the latest in a string of police calls on black people who are doing ordinary, nonthreatening tasks that have made headlines.
Edwards said she lives in the Glenridge community where police were called. In one of the videos on her account, viewed more than 4 million times, she told Winston-Salem police that Bloom asked for her address and then for an ID.
Edwards told police that as a resident, she has a key card to enter the gated pool area, which she handed over to an officer to prove that it worked.
"Where does it say that I have to show an ID to use the pool?" she asked.
Bloom told police that some people "kind of make their way around sometimes … but that's good enough for me today."
The man then walked away when Edwards asked him if he would like to apologize for calling the police.
Bloom is now getting death threats and had to leave his home with his wife and three children to a safe location.
