White Women Attack Black Man In Elevator While Shouting ‘Black Lives Matter’ In Viral Video
They were completely out of line.
Instagram A video has gone viral showing a stream of racial abuse directed at a Black man who filmed as he was physically and verbally assaulted by two white women in an elevator.
While one of the women is also recording, they both yell at him to get out of the elevator, repeatedly say things like “don’t touch me” and “Black lives matter,” all while hitting him and claiming that he hit them first.
The video has gone very viral on TikTok recently, reaching 1.6 million views — despite being from December 21st last year — after being reposted online.
The viral video shows the women targeting the man in the elevator over his lack of mask.
The original video was from TikToker Blaine Legendary, @blainelegendary, who posted it on Instagram first and detailed everything that happened before the video and after the encounter.
The women are being dubbed "Elevator Karens" for their cruel treatment of the man.
He started by saying that he was hesitant to post the video during the holidays because it’s quite disturbing and the holidays are supposed to be times of cheer, but he did it anyway.
“I got on to the elevator of my apartment building from the 11th floor,” he said. “I was heading down to the parking garage on the 2nd floor.”
He mentioned that this was around 9:45 a.m. on a Sunday, and this was in Aventura, Florida.
“On my way to the parking garage,” he continued, “the elevator stopped on the 4th floor where I encountered two very aggressive women who demanded to know if I had a mask while they held the elevator doors open.”
As some people have clarified in the comments sections, a lot of buildings have some sort of COVID safety rule depending on the size, and this elevator would likely only fit two people far enough apart in order to maintain social distancing.
“I was taken back by their volume and tone,” he said, “But I responded and said ‘yes.’ Before I could pull my mask out the two women began to scream at me and demanded that I ‘get off the elevator!’”
This is where everything seems to go downhill, and fast.
The two white women launch a racially charged attack against the man.
He claims that the women were keeping the door open and yelling for help down the hallway, begging someone to call the police and implying that he was causing them harm.
They slapped him, hit him with their phones, and eventually got in his face and started recording the situation in some sort of attempt to get him to react.
“I told her to stop and asked why she was recording me,” he explained. “She continued, and in response to that I pulled out my phone and began to record them.”
This is where the video that Blaine recorded seems to start because when she realizes he’s recording her, she hits him at the very first moments of the video.
As the strange altercation continues, they start to yell “Black Lives Matter,” the movement that advocates against the mistreatment of Black people by police and society.
He later claims they did this strategically to make it seem like they’re not racist or the aggressors in the situation, even though they very clearly are.
“I called the management office in the building and the police to file a report,” he said in a comment on the post. “At that time I was informed that the building has no working cameras in the elevators.”
As he filed a report with the police, he was told that since no slurs were yelled at him, the hate crime would only be considered a misdemeanor.
One of the attackers was charged with battery but was let out within the hour because it was a misdemeanor.
“This is one of many experiences that I have had in this building, and the second time I was dismissed with claims that the cameras are not in service,” he said.
He explained why he decided to share the post in the first place despite not wanting to during the holidays, saying “I share this video in hopes of illustrating to the public just how dangerous situations can be for people of color when you are just going through your day to day activities.”
He said that this was a blatant attack on his life and that it wasn’t considered racially motivated by police because they “strategically” yelled Black Lives Matter.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.