A video of two white men yelling at a group of black teens visiting a Missouri pool has gone viral, and now one of the men is apologizing.
The video, taken Monday night at a neighborhood pool in Lee's Summit, shows two men accusing a group of teenagers in an expletive-laced rant for a recent rash of vandalism and questioning whether the teens should even be at the pool, KSHB-TV reported.
"That doesn’t mean you invite all your young friends in my pool,” one of the men can be heard saying. "You pay the (expletive) dues?"
The men said residents of the neighborhood are only allowed to bring one guest to the pool. However, posted rules say three guests are allowed per household.
Jef Sallis, whose 18-year-old daughter was in the group of teenagers, has lived in the neighborhood for 14 years. His daughter brought three friends to the pool, he said, and another teenager who lives in the neighborhood also brought three friends, meaning they were in compliance.
Sallis said he believes the confrontation was racially motivated.
"I'm absolutely sure race played a factor here, because again, when you look at the video, the way the gentleman postured himself and the things, he was saying, 'They probably don't even live here. This is my pool. You don't belong here,'" Sallis said. "It was a lot of you, you, you."
Bobby Ross, one of the men seen ranting in the video, apologized for his actions in a Thursday interview.
"I shouldn't have gone off the deep end like I did,” he said. “The language I used was inappropriate, and I apologized to all the kids, the other gentleman that was involved. I lost it because the way I was spoken to.”
Ross said race had nothing to do with his rant.
The president of the homeowners association told KCTV-TV the association is "working to address situations" like Monday's incident.
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