White Man Takes Out Gun To Stop Black Students From Entering Apartment Building, Said They Didn't Belong There

 

A video of a tense encounter between four black students and a white man in Florida has prompted a police investigation after it went viral on Twitter.

The video, posted by one of the students of Florida A&M University, Isiah Butterfield, shows the man holding a gun and using his body to prevent the students from entering the building of a student housing complex on Saturday. The video has been viewed more than 320,000 times on Twitter.

"...We are sick of the discrimination," said Butterfield in the tweet. "Never thought I’d have a personal experience with racism like this..."

The incident is under investigation under Florida's statute of aggravated assault with deadly weapon without intent to kill, the Tallahassee Police Department said.

"Once we found out he had the gun, it turned into a whole different situation," Butterfield told ABC News. "We really think he was trying to provoke us to the point where it got violent so he could retaliate with the gun. I knew that if this dude even feels threatened, he's going to find any excuse to pull the trigger."

Then Crandall came out, again, to reiterate the point and that's when Butterfield started recording the events on his phone. That was also when another white student, a resident of the building, tried to intervene on their behalf and let them in, urging Crandall to "keep walking" and "just go about your day."

In the video, Crandall, who appears to be considerably older than the young students and was confirmed to not be a resident of the building, trades insults with the white student as the black students stand watching quietly. Afterward, they all enter the building but Crandall refused to let them enter the elevator with him.

"Find another elevator, you can't get in this one," he said, blocking their way as the four students tried to enter it.

"Why not? Do you own the building?" the students asked.

"Because you don't belong in this building," he replied, before adding, "You ain't got a key for the building, you don't belong in the elevator."

The man took out a key to show them, which was when the students noticed he had a gun in his hand.

"Sir, you bring out your gun. What's your purpose for that?" one of the students asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me. Forgive me," he said, trying to hide it behind him.

Though the police did not give any further information on the incident, the man was identified by Twitter users as Don Crandall, the general manager of a local hotel, Baymont by Wyndham.

When ABC News reached out to the hotel for comment, the hotel confirmed his identity and said he was no longer working there.

It's really sad because these young men lives were on the line, and we all know how easily it is for a white man to feel threatened. So I am thankful that these young men are alive and thankful for the the other young man who's white who stood up for them. 

"The man you are talking about is no longer employed with us and does not represent the values of our company and how others should be treated," an employee with the hotel said, declining to say whether he had been fired.

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