An arrest warrant has been issued for a Florida man seen on video brandishing a gun while trying to block four Black students from entering an apartment building without a key.
Tallahassee police issued a warrant Friday for the arrest of Donald Crandall Jr. for improperly exhibiting a firearm, ABC News reported.
“After reviewing all of the evidence and consulting with the State Attorney’s Office, a warrant was obtained for Donald Crandall, Jr.,” the department wrote in a statement. Crandall still hasn’t been taken into custody, however.
The warrant stemmed from a Sept. 8 incident between Crandall and three Florida A&M University students when the former hotel manager was caught on video trying to bar the young men from boarding an elevator at the Stadium Centre apartments in Tallahassee. A white resident, identified as “Chad,” was also caught in the heated exchange as he tried to defuse the situation.
FAMU student Isaiah Butterfield, who filmed the incident, said he couldn’t believe it when he saw Crandall pull out a gun.
“These are the kind of people that are burning Nike products,” Butterfield tweeted earlier this month. “We are sick of the discrimination; [I] never thought I’d have a personal experience with racism like this, this man pulled a gun on us because we were walking up to my friends apartment w/o a key.”
In the video, Crandall is seen refusing to let the students onto the elevator, telling them “this is my elevator” and that they “don’t belong” in the building. The students explained they were there to see a friend, but that was of little consideration to Crandall.
“Let me be clear, You ain’t getting in this f–king elevator,” he continues before flashing his handgun. “You think I’m f–king kidding? … You got a key for this building? You don’t got a key for the building, you don’t belong in the elevator.”
A manager for the complex confirmed Crandall doesn’t live or work in the building, nor did he have the authority to determine who was allowed inside. He worked as general manager at the nearby Baymont Inn & Suites but was fired after the shocking video made its way to his employer.
“The Pax Hotel Group wants to assure the public that the former General Manager of the Baymont by Wyndham, Tallahassee Central was terminated on Monday afternoon once we were made aware of the incident,” the company said in an Instagram post. “He has not been transferred or rehired at any of Pax Hotel Group’s properties. His employment with Pax Hotel Group has been terminated.”
Although an arrest warrant has been issued, Tallahassee police Officer Damon Miller said Crandall hasn’t been arrested just yet.
“I do not know his whereabouts at this time,” the officer said.
