White Woman Questions Man Who Wrote 'Black Lives Matter' in Chalk On His Own Property

In a video posted on Twitter Friday, a man and woman question another man for writing "Black Lives Matter" in chalk on his own property in San Francisco, claiming they know the person who lives in the building.

The video, shared by a Twitter user with the handle Jaimetoons (later identified in media reports as James "Jaime" Juanillo, a San Francisco resident), shows two people asking a man if its his property that he's writing "Black Lives Matter" on his wall.

"A white couple call the police on me, a person of color, for stencilling a #BLM chalk message on my own front retaining wall," Juanillo wrote along with the video. The woman also tells him that she knows the person who lives in the home he's drawing the stencil on, despite the property belonging to the Twitter user.

"Is this your property? Hi, I'm asking you if this is your property," the woman, named Lisa, says at the start of the video. When the man sharing the video questions why they're asking, the other man with the woman responds: "Because it's private property. So, are you defacing private property or is this your building? You're free to express your opinions, but not on people's property."

The Twitter user then flips the tables on the two people in the video, by saying that they do not know if it's his property. "But, if I did live here and it was my property, this would be absolutely fine, and you don't know if I live here or if this this is my property," he tells the woman. The woman responds that they did know who lived in the property, but Juanillo pointed out that it was indeed his own home in the tweet accompanying the video.

In the video, Juanillo tells the two that they can either call the people who live in the house, who they claim to know, or call the police. "I'll be more than happy to talk to them," he says to them. Juanillo refuses to tell the two people his name, but they say their names are Lisa and Robert.

After saying that he wouldn't answer their questions, Juanillo tells Lisa and Robert to call the police, and they walk away.

"And that, people, is why black lives matter. That's Karen [the popular name for women who overreact and escalate situations too quickly], and she's going to call the cops," he says as the two depart. "This is going to be really funny, because she knows the people who live here, personally."

Social media users later ID'd the woman in the video as Lisa Alexander, who reportedly owns a skincare line. In a supposed screenshot of a tweet by Alexander, she responded to the tweet. "I asked if he lived there because if he had said yes then everything would have been fine as it was his property," she wrote.

The account screenshotted has since been deleted, and the skincare line's website is down.

In his tweet, Juanillo said the two people did indeed call the police, and in a reply tweet, he wrote that the police did not even step out of their car.

Alexander apologized to the man who filmed the video in a statement received by Newsweek the following day.

"I want to apologize directly to Mr. Juanillo. There are not enough words to describe how truly sorry I am for being disrespectful to him last Tuesday when I made the decision to question him about what he was doing in front of his home. I should have minded my own business," she wrote.

She continued that in the time since the video was posted, she has reflected on her actions and wanted to learn from them. "The last 48 hours has taught me that my actions were those of someone who is not aware of the damage caused by being ignorant and naive to racial inequalities. When I watch the video I am shocked and sad that I behaved the way I did. It was disrespectful to Mr. Juanillo and I am deeply sorry for that," she wrote. "I did not realize at the time that my actions were racist and have learned a painful lesson. I am taking a hard look at the meaning behind white privilege and am committed to growing from this experience. I would love to have coffee with Mr. Juanillo in our neighborhood so I can apologize in person and share a dialogue where I can continue to learn and grow and be a better person."

The man in the video, who was later identified as Robert Larkins on social media, also apologized to Juanillo in a statement given to Newsweek. "Over the last two days, I have had my eyes opened wide to my own ignorance of racial inequity, and I have thought a lot about my own personal blind spots. I was wrong to question Mr. Juanillo, and I was wrong to call the neighborhood police watch. It was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for treating him with disrespect," he wrote.

Larkins continued, expressing remorse for questioning Juanillo. "I have a lot to learn about how racism impacts people in their lives, daily. I have hurt my neighbor. I am full of regret and very sorry. I am hoping to meet with him soon to express my sincere apology and to ask his forgiveness and guidance in helping me begin the journey towards being a kinder, more thoughtful and sensitive person," he wrote.

Newsweek's attempts to contact Juanillo directly were unsuccessful.

Updated 6/14 9:31 p.m. EST: This story has been updated to include Lisa Alexander's statement, which was received after the story was originally published, as well as the name of the person who posted the video and the city where his property is located.

Updated 6/15 10:01 a.m. EST:This story has been updated to include Robert Larkins statement, which was obtained after the story was originally published.

Correction: June 14, 2020, 5:53 P.M. ET, to clarify that the full name of the other man who was with Lisa Alexander in the video cannot be verified as 'Robert Alexander,' as previously mentioned in an earlier version of the article. We regret the error.