Man loses his job after viral video shows him asking black woman for her ID at community pool

A North Carolina man accused of racial profiling at his neighborhood pool has lost his job after a video of the incident went viral on social media this week, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

On Wednesday afternoon, Adam Bloom, a white man, allegedly asked Jasmine Edwards to show her identification at the Glenridge community pool in Winston-Salem.

Edwards, who claimed Bloom asked her for her ID because she is black, shot video after police arrived to help diffuse the situation. A few hours later, she posted the video on her Facebook account and it went viral.

Bloom's employer, Sonoco, saw the video and posted a statement on Facebook that said he's "no longer employed by the company in any respect."

What happened?

Bloom asked Edwards where she lived and to show him her ID while she was at the pool, which is only open to residents and their guests.

John Vermitsky, a lawyer who's representing Bloom, said Bloom called the Winston-Salem police after the woman became angry.

Edwards, who was at the pool with her child, said she had a keycard to get in the gate and that should be sufficient proof that she lives in the neighborhood.

“Where does it say that I have to show an ID to use my own pool,” the woman told police in the video.

Bloom, a member of the homeowner's association, told the officers that he asks people for their ID a couple of times each week, adding that usually, people must sign in at the gate before they go in. There was not a sign-in sheet that day because it was a holiday.

The officers tried to diffuse the situation and asked for the woman's keycard to prove to Bloom that it worked on the gate.

"If she has a card to get into the pool, I believe that should be enough," a Winston-Salem police officer can be heard saying in the video. "It turns green, and it unlocks."

Edwards asked the police if they could arrest the man for racial profiling, but they told her it's a civil matter.

Finally, the officers offered an apology to the woman for the incident, and they asked Bloom if he'd like to apologize.

He did not.

Edwards also asked him for an apology.

"Do you want to apologize? Adam? Do you want to apologize for what you just did," Edwards said in the video.

A few hours later, Edwards posted the video to her Facebook account.

What did Bloom's lawyer say?

Vermitsky told the Journal that the incident started before Edwards began videotaping.

Another woman at the pool had asked Bloom if Edwards was a member of the pool. As the pool's chairman, it was Bloom’s job to check the members’ credentials to verify their membership, Vermitsky told the newspaper.

Bloom then asked for an ID, and that’s when the woman became angry, Vermitsky explained.

“I think the situation is unfortunate that conclusions are being reached by people who have seen a 46-second video of their interaction,” Vermitsky said. “He called the police to make sure that the interaction didn’t escalate.”

What did Bloom's former employer say?

Sonoco posted this statement on Friday to its social media accounts.

"We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one [of] our employees outside of the workplace. The well-documented incident, which involves activities at a neighborhood pool over the 4th of July, does not reflect the core values of our Company, and the employee involved is no longer employed by the Company in any respect," Sonoco said in the statement.

"On behalf of our more than 20,000 teammates around the world, we extend our sincerest apologies to all who have been hurt by this incident, especially Ms. Edwards and her family," the statement concluded.

What did the HOA say?

On Thursday, the Glenridge Homeowners Association announced that Bloom had resigned his position as the pool’s chairman and board member, effective immediately, the Journal reported:

We sincerely regret that an incident occurred yesterday at our community pool that left neighbors feeling racially profiled. In confronting and calling the police on one of our neighbors, the pool chair escalated a situation in a way that does not reflect the inclusive values Glenridge seeks to uphold as a community.

We also have re-instituted a sign-in sheet at the pool to make sure no resident feels singled out again.