A video showing a white man racially profiling and preventing a Latino man from entering an apartment complex he lives in is being widely circulated on social media. The incident, which took place in San Francisco earlier this week, shows a man, identified as William Beasley, blocking Michael Barajas from entering the parking garage of his own apartment building and then assaulting a bystander who tried to intervene.
Racially Profiled as a 'Criminal'
According to the man who recorded the footage, he was coming after buying some fruits on Tuesday evening when a white SUV with a Florida license plate pulled up in front of him and stopped the vehicle at the entrance of the garage, preventing him from entering.
"His immediate reaction was 'hey you f-----g criminal, you're not coming in here.'" Barajas said before noting that Beasley racially profiled him when he noticed he was a Latino man wearing black clothes and tattoos on his body.
"Today I was not let into my complex by a white couple from Florida that said they would not let a criminal into their complex as they needed to protect it," Barajas, who is Mexican American and a graduate of UC Berkeley, said on Instagram, where he posted a video of the incident. "They thought I was trying to tailgate them to break in and rob them/other cars in the garage."
Barajas claims he told Weasley he lives in the complex but he didn't budge and threatened to call the cops on him. "You're not coming in the f-----g garage," Beasley can be heard saying in the video. "I called the cops. So you have about five minutes to get out of here."
Bystander Comes to Barajas' Defense
The situation escalated after a Barajas' neighbor intervened. "Dude, pull into your space or go!" the bystander said before he is heard hitting Beasley's car with his hand yelling for him to move.
Beasley then exits the SUV from the passenger side, confronts the neighbor and reportedly assaults him by knocking him to the ground. "You don't touch my car, bro!" said Beasley, who added, "I'm protecting my f-----g place!"
A woman driving the SUV then gets out of the car in an attempt to coax Beasley to get back in the vehicle. "The girlfriend tried to pay us to not call the cops and not press battery charges," Barajas pointed out on Instagram. "Police arrived and I have filed a report along with my neighbor."
Beasley Fired Over 'Racist' Behavior
After the incident, it was reported that Beasley was an employee of APEX Systems, which later released a statement on Twitter addressing the video and announcing that Beasley had been fired in the wake of the incident.
"We have made the decision to terminate the employee, effective immediately," the company wrote. "We will not tolerate violent or racist behavior of any kind at Apex Systems."
The apartment complex, where the incident took place, also released a statement saying they're "actively working to resolve" the issue and condemn "violent acts, aggression toward any residents, discrimination and harassment."
Beasley Tries to Justify His Actions
A local news outlet spotted Beasley and his girlfriend loading up a car with their belongings and tried to explain their side of the story.
"I talked to them nicely and asked them nicely," Beasley said. When the reported said that the man lived in the complex, his girlfriend chimed in by saying, "he didn't know that." When being pressed about accusations of racism on social media, Beasley responded by saying, "Completely not true, why are you attacking me?"
