A white man has been arrested after he was caught on camera aggressively confronting his black female neighbor while using the derogatory phrase 'you people.'
Thomas Diiorio, 40, was taken into custody in New Jersey on Wednesday for harassment and bias intimidation following the disturbing interaction, according to the Mount Laurel Police Department.
The confrontation occurred Monday evening over an incident between their children.
Police were called to the residential neighborhood just after 6pm. When officers arrived, Diiorio and his neighbor separated and agreed not to press charges.
However, after police saw the video footage, criminal complaints were filed against Diiorio, and he was booked into the Burlington County Jail, police said.
The video was initially posted on TikTok by a woman named Tia Shirece on Tuesday. The footage shows Diiorio confronting his female neighbor in the streets while she was on the phone.
'Get the f*** out of here! Go! Get in your car!' he was heard yelling as he approached her.
The female neighbor was seen backing away from Diiorio and appearing to yell at onlookers to call the police.
Video footage of the incident, pictured above, led police to the arrest. Thomas Diiorio, 40, was charged with harassment and bias intimidation
The video has amassed over 100,000 likes and thousands of comments as of Thursday afternoon, with many condemning Diiorio's behavior and asking if the woman was okay.
The neighbor was later identified by NJ.com as Lakisha Spruil. The outlet reported that the confrontation was sparked by an ongoing dispute between Spruil and Diiorio's children.
Spruill said that her daughter had been bullied by Diiorio's children, calling her an 'ugly African.'
When she confronted Diiorio about his children's behavior, he allegedly responded, 'It's always you people' and hurled racial slurs, according to a police report seen by NJ.com.
When Diiorio was asked by police what he meant by the phrase, he responded that he 'never seems to have these problems with [White] people,' according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Courier Post. Spruill's child was in her car during the incident and had witnessed it.
The situation echoed a similar incident in the same neighborhood in 2021. Edward Cagney Matthews was arrested and faced the same charges for hurling racial slurs and threats at his black neighbors.
The case resulted in protests in Mount Laurel and civic unrest. The New Jersey Attorney General's Office later found dozens of complaints about Matthews that police failed to investigate. He was convicted of the charges and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The video footage showed Diiorio yelling at his black female neighbor following a confrontation over their children
Ali Washington, a resident of the town, told NJ.com that the area was 'historically known' for such incidents.
However, two residents credited the police for improving investigations into racially motivated crimes.
Diiorio was booked into the Burlington County Jail. He has not yet entered a plea for the charges against him.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Mount Laurel Police Department for the criminal complaint and an update on the investigation.