Nationwide — Travis Miller, an African American delivery truck driver from Oklahoma City, was brought to tears as he recorded his encounter with a white man who demanded to know why he was inside his gated neighborhood. The now-viral video has sparked outrage from people saying the encounter was racially motivated.
They were about to exit the premises after finishing the delivery, when a man, who identified himself as David Stewart and president of the Homeowner’s Association, blocked his path with a car.
Miller started recording the incident in a Facebook Live video. In the video, Miller is seen narrating the situation that they were in before he asked the man to move the car that was blocking them. The man refused and went on to question Miller and his co-worker about why they were in the neighborhood, not allowing them to leave.
However, Miller refused to tell him. For 30 minutes, he remained in the truck with his seatbelts on as he continued recording the man who repeatedly demanded him for information.
Soon after, a second man confronted him saying, “All we want to know is why you’re in here and who gave you the gate code. That’s all we need to know.”
Miller still refused to say, citing privacy concerns for his customer. The man, who identified himself as Stewart, eventually told him he called police.
At one point, Miller can be seen wiping his tears before also calling 911, hoping to protect him if he left the scene.
“He said that he called the cops back and let them know that everything was clear but I didn’t want to leave and have it seem like I was fleeing the scene or anything like that,” Miller can be heard telling 911.
After confirming the delivery from Miller’s customer, the two men let them go.
Miller, who was still grieving the loss of his grandmother and aunt who died a day apart, said he did not actually have the “mental capacity” to deal with Stewart. He said he is thankful for the support he received from people who commented on the video he posted, which now has over 360,000 views and 12,000 shares.
“People of all races, shades of life, have either commented on the video, shared the video or messaged me on Facebook and said, ‘I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, but I want to applaud you for how you responded,'” he told NBC News. “It makes me feel good knowing that being humble and showing restraint touched many other people.”