A white woman who tried to block a black man from entering his St. Louis apartment building last week said she doesn't believe she did anything wrong.
Hilary Thorton, whose encounter with D'Arreion Toles went viral after he posted videos of the Friday night confrontation, said she was just following directions given to her by the condo association board members at Elder Shirt Lofts.
She told KTVI that board members tell tenants not to let anyone who they don't know into the building. Elder Shirt Lofts has 31 units, according to a realty site.
"I do not think that I did anything wrong. I upheld the ask of me to its fullest extent," Thorton said.
Thorton said she had the front door to the building slightly open when Toles came home. She asked to see his key fob. Toles refused to show his fob, which prompts Thorton to tell him she's "uncomfortable."
He then managed to get into the building in what Thorton called an "altercation." She followed Toles into the elevator and up to his apartment, where he entered his key.
Toles said Thorton called police, and two officers showed up at his door a short time later. St. Louis Police said a call was made to the apartment building, but no report was written.
Thorton was fired from her job working for a luxury apartment building company, which is not affiliated with the building she and Toles live in.
She told KTVI that she's received death threats and said being called racist is "heartbreaking"
The station reported that Thorton is "legally married to an African-American man."
Thorton filed for divorce from Brandon Mueller on Oct. 9, Missouri records show. A man with a Facebook profile under that name, posted a video Sunday expressing "deep disappointment" with the situation and criticizing Thorton's actions.
Mueller, who identifies himself as "a man of color," said he has been separated from Thorton for more than a year and doesn't live in the Elder Shirt building.
"My only hope is that we as a community can use this as an opportunity to do what my late father told me to do many years ago — to not allow others' ignorance to incite anger and hatred, but to use it as an opportunity to learn, grow and promote love," Mueller said in the video statement.