A Scottsdale, Arizona, man was arrested and fired from his job after he was seen in a video using a racial slur while confronting two Black men.
The encounter happened Friday as Dre Abram and his roommate, both of whom are Black, were filming a podcast for Abram's YouTube channel in the neighborhood of Old Town Scottsdale, according to NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix.
In a video posted on Abram's Instagram page, he asks a man identified as Paul Ng if there is an issue. "Why are you coming over here?" Abram says.
"I just want to see what you guys are taking pictures of?" Ng, a local real estate agent, responds. Abram tells him it's none of his business.
In the video, Ng says that they've had problems in the neighborhood recently. "I don't care," Abram says. "You don't know me. Why are you taking pictures of me? And I don't know you. Do you know a lot of white men are doing racist things in this world, sir?"
Ng replies, "No, I'm a racist. ... This is a no (N-word) zone."
Ng, 74, was arrested on disorderly conduct charges following the incident. He could not immediately be reached and it is not clear if he has a lawyer. Ng told KPNX that he shouldn’t have made the comment and plans to plead not guilty.
Ng told an officer in a police interview that he likes to keep watch of his neighborhood for "suspicious individuals," according to an incident report seen by NBC News.
He said he saw Abram and his friend standing next to a car with a Michigan license plate and began taking photos of them because he thought they were "casing the area."
"Paul felt this was suspicious as he stated there are typically very few people out on the street at that time of the morning," the report states. "Paul took a photo of the vehicle with the license plate as well as the male subjects. Paul stated he had sent the pictures to the local business owners in the area and was told by one owner that he was unable to see the license plate of the vehicle. Paul went back down to take better photographs of the vehicle."
Ng told the officer that Abram didn't like him taking his photo and a verbal altercation ensued. Abram told police that he recently moved to Scottsdale from Michigan and was filming a video to "showcase how nice Scottsdale and Arizona are to his viewers," the incident report states.
Abram told KPNX that he posted the video of the racist incident on his social media because things like that shouldn't be tolerated anymore. "It’s a numbing feeling," he said, adding, "This isn’t OK. This isn’t allowed anymore."
Ng's employer, Russ Lyon Sotheby's Real Estate Agency in Scottsdale, released a statement about the incident saying that he has since been fired.
"Upon learning of this video we took immediate action in severing his license, terminating his involvement with us effective immediately and condemning his disgusting behavior," the statement read. "Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty does not, and will not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind. Period. Never has. Never will."
"In addition, we are notifying the Arizona Department of Real Estate of Ng’s behavior with the recommendation that his license be revoked."