Jennifer Smith and Matthew Wright, Daily Mail, July 6, 2018

White father, 40, who was accused of racial profiling after demanding that a black woman show him her ID to use their community pool is fired from his job after video of their spat goes viral

Jennifer Smith and Matthew Wright, Daily Mail, July 6, 2018

The white man accused of racial profiling for asking that a black woman at his community pool show him her ID to prove she was entitled to be there has been fired from his job as a result of their row.

Adam Bloom, 40, was named on Friday as a video of his confrontation with Jasmine Edwards, a young mother, went viral.

The pair met at the community pool near their homes in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Bloom, the pool ‘chair’ and a member of the local community homeowners association, asked Edwards for proof that she was a resident.

First, he asked for her address then, she said, he demanded ID to prove that she lived where she said she did.

The cops were then called to the scene and their argument was caught on video. Edwards posted footage of it on Facebook later.

In response to it, Sonoco, the packaging company where Bloom worked, fired him on Friday. He worked as a Value Realization Leader, according to his now-deleted LinkedIn page.

In a statement, Sonoco said: ‘We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one our employees outside of the workplace.

‘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 is no longer employed by the Company in any respect,’ Sonoco said.

In her Facebook post, Edwards said: ‘This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool.

‘This happened to me and my baby today. What a shame!!’ she said.

Bloom lives in a four-bedroom home less than a block away from the pool.

The video shows the aftermath of him asking Edwards to tell him first what her address was and then for ID to prove it was her address on July 4.

One of the two called the police — it is not clear which — and the video shows officers trying to reason between them.

‘Where does it say that I have to show an ID to use my own pool?’ Edwards can be heard asking.

He hesitated and then claimed that he asked other residents for their ID’s ‘several times a week’ because he is a member of the community association.

Another woman who was at the pool then chimed in that she hadn’t been asked for hers.

‘I am just here with my baby swimming,’ Edwards fumed, adding that she was the ‘only black person’ at the pool on the day in question.

The cops awkwardly stated that the fact she had a key card should have served as sufficient proof that she was able to use the facility.

To resolve the conflict, they took the card and swiped it against the gate to prove that it worked.

One of the officers the volunteered that he also worked at a pool sometimes and never asked neighbors to prove ID.

Bloom, who grew increasingly sheepish throughout the video, replied: ‘A form of ID would have been nice.’

Once the officers swiped the card to prove that Edwards did have access, he said: ‘That’s good enough for me today.’

As he tried to walk away, Edwards demanded an apology from him but it went unanswered.

DailyMail.com tried to contact both Bloom and Edwards for the story. Neither responded.

At the start of the footage, she is heard asking the officers what charges she can press against him for racial profiling.

They advised her that it was a civil issue that can be taken up in court. The video has been viewed more than three million times since the woman put it online.

The homeowners association has also parted ways with him in light of the incident.

‘Dear Neighbors,

‘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.

‘Our HOA Board has accepted his resignation as pool chair and a board member, effective immediately.

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

‘And, in the coming days, we will take additional steps to ensure consistent and equitable application of our pool policies and procedures.

‘We apologize to our neighbors who were directly hurt by these actions, and we hope that everyone in Glenridge will join us in redoubling our efforts to care for and support all of our neighbors during this difficult time,’ they said in a statement.