2 Black Kids Played in a Hotel Pool. The Cops Were Called

Employee at NC Hampton Inn fired after summoning police regarding 'trespassing' guests
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2020 9:25 AM CDT
Hotel Employee Calls Cops on Black Guests in Pool
A Hampton Inn is seen in Indiana, Pa., on Nov. 16. 2011.   (AP Photo/The Indiana Gazette, Tom Peel)

An employee at a Hampton Inn in North Carolina has been fired after calling the cops on Black guests who were using the pool. Two police officers responded to a trespassing complaint at the Williamston location on Friday after the employee, an unidentified white woman, reported finding two children unattended in the pool. The children said their mother was watching from a car, reports ABC News. Anita Williams-Wright, who'd booked two rooms, began a livestream as she was met by the employee and officers, who demanded proof that she was a guest. Williams-Wright refused to identify herself, but she presented her key to access the pool. The 10-minute video, viewed more than 1 million times, continues with the police running Williams-Wright's license plate. Because "I'm the only Black person here, in this pool, they want to question me," she said.

Williams-Wright said the employee didn't approach two white guests using the pool. "She said to me, 'Oh, because it's always people like you using the pool unauthorized.' Who [are] 'people like me?'" A rep for Hampton Inn owner Hilton said the company has a "zero tolerance for racism or discrimination" and that the "team member is no longer employed at the hotel," per USA Today. It's unclear if further disciplinary action was taken. The employee had told officers that "her manager wanted the people arrested," according to the police report. It describes the case as "unfounded." Police have since launched an internal investigation over the handling of the call. Williams-Wright noted officers should have left when she presented her key. "I didn't commit a crime," she said. "You are degrading me like this in front of my kids," who "are trying to enjoy themselves in the pool." (More North Carolina stories.)

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