A central Ohio contractor has apologized after he followed an African-American man home and shouted the n-word at him for more than three minutes in reaction to a disagreement over who had the right of way while driving.
Charless Lovett told the local Fox 28 news station in Columbus, Ohio that a man driving a Uriahs Heating Cooling and Refrigeration truck appeared to be upset with him after the man nearly sideswiped him at a local intersection and Lovett responded with a honk. The man, Jeffrey Whitman, reportedly followed Lovett to his house, called him the n-word, told him he was entitled and questioned whether he had a job or paid for his own car.
Lovett recorded the three-minute encounter on his phone and posted it on Facebook, telling Whitman that he would be reporting his behavior to the state.
In a statement, Whitman apologized for hurting the “Black community at large.”
“My actions reflect an unhealthy mindset I have developed and I need to work to change,” he said.
Whitman told Fox 28 that he is not a racist and regrets the encounter. He said he has received death threats since the video was posted on Facebook.
