White man calls police on black mother and child for using neighbourhood swimming pool
Adam Bloom did not believe Jasmine Edwards could be wealthy enough to live in area, she says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A white man has become the latest person accused of racial profiling in the US after calling the police on a black mother and her child – because they were using the neighbourhood swimming pool.
Adam Bloom did not believe Jasmine Edwards was rich enough to live in the area and have access to the residents-only facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
But, when he demanded to see ID, Ms Edwards called him out and filmed the encounter.
On the video, she can be heard telling the responding officers that ID is not required to use the pool; that, in any case, she has an access card with her; and that Mr Bloom has not asked to see identification of anyone else using the pool.
Mr Bloom is seen topless and unrepentant. “They kinda make their way round sometimes,” he tells the police after seeing the access card.
The video went viral after Ms Edwards, who was with her son, posted it on Facebook.
She wrote: “This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighbourhood pool. This happened to me and my baby today. What a shame!!”
In the video – recorded on July 4 – she remains calm while telling police: “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 neighbourhood?’”
In response, Mr Bloom – who was the pool chairman with the Glenridge Homeowners Association – says he asks residents “pretty much a couple times a week” for proof of access.
Officers resolve the dispute by asking Ms Edwards to quickly prove the access card works.
After she does so, she repeatedly asks Mr Bloom to apologise. He ignores her.
While Ms Edwards has not commented further on the incident, Mr Bloom’s lawyer defended his client’s actions in the New York Post on Thursday.
John Vermitsky said: “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.”
And he added: “This guy is really having a very difficult situation and dealing with backlash for something that’s pretty undeserved. 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.”
Mr Bloom has now resigned as pool chairman, while the association has released a statement critical of his actions.
“By calling the police on one of our neighbours, the pool chair escalated a situation in a way that does not reflect the inclusive values Glenridge seeks to uphold as a community,” it said.
It is the latest in an increasing number of white Americans caught apparently racial profiling on film. Just this week a woman was recorded throwing two black teenagers out of a pool because she did not believe they had a right to be there – despite the fact another resident had invited them in. In another incident in May, a woman called police because a black family were having a lakeside barbecue.