The woman was fired from her job days after a video showed her blocking a black man from entering the apartment building where they both reside

Hilary Brooke Mueller is speaking out in the wake of the controversy surrounding the release of a video of her blocking a black resident in her apartment building from entering his home.

The Missouri woman defended her actions after the viral video, shared on Facebook, Friday, showed her attempting to prevent D’Arreion Toles from entering St. Louis’ Elder Shirt Lofts.

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She was subsequently terminated from her job, and claims she has received death threats.

“When I noticed an individual that I did not know here, my only thought was to follow directions I had been given by condo association board members repeatedly; and that is to never allow access to anyone that you do not know,” she told local news outlet Fox2, identifying herself as Hilary Thornton.

Image zoom D’Arreion Toles

The 32-year-old told the outlet that she was “simply” inquiring whether or not he was a fellow resident.

“I simply asked if he lived there because the direction from the association is … that if you don’t know the person, you don’t let them in,” Mueller said to Fox2, claiming that Toles did not initially show her his key fob.

“It’s the only indicator that any resident has that they live in the building, he would not answer me. He would not show me one,” she continued.

In his video, Toles can be seen making attempts to enter his building despite Mueller repeatedly blocking him. “If you want to come into my building,” she said before he interjected by saying, “It’s my building as well. So, I need you to get out of my way … It’s not your building, you’re not the owner.”

Mueller said the backlash from the video has included death threats. “There are truly no words. That is absolutely false and heartbreaking,” she said in response to being called a racist. “Those are words that truly cut deep.”

Two days after Toles shared his video of Mueller, her employer issued a statement on their website confirming she has been fired.

“Tribeca-STL was recently shared a video containing a disturbing interaction that we believe is important to clarify. The video did involve one of our employees, but the event did NOT take place at Tribeca-STL and did NOT involve one of our tenants,” the real estate company said.

“The video is showing the employee in her private life at her own residence interacting with another person. The Tribeca-STL family is a minority-owned company that consists of employees and residents from many racial backgrounds. We are proud of this fact and do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company,” the company said. “After a review of the matter the employee has been terminated and is no longer with our Company. At Tribeca-STL we want all residents, guests and visitors to feel welcome, safe and respected.”

Toles also reflected on his encounter with Mueller in an interview. “I was kind of blown away, shocked and like ‘wow.’ I am just glad I had my camera out. If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way,” he told local CBS station KMOV4.