A Black father of two says he was singled out and asked to show identification at an Illinois apartment complex pool, even though he says he and his children had the right to be there.
Leo Sullivan was visiting the Chicago area with his sons and staying at Arden of Warrenville, an apartment community roughly 30 miles west of the city, when he claims two women confronted him at the pool.
In a Facebook video posted Monday, Sullivan described the women in the caption as “racist Karen and her buddy” while documenting the tense encounter.
“I’m the only Black man out here, so the nice white people come out here and tell me if I don’t show them my ID I have to leave,” Sullivan says in the footage. “But no one else has to show their ID.”
Throughout the recording, Sullivan repeatedly notes that the two women appeared to be smiling as they allegedly contacted police in front of his children.
As the situation unfolded, Sullivan’s younger son, Kingston, approached him and quietly asked whether he could “just get your ID.”
Sullivan pushed back, telling his son, “I don’t have to show them my ID to be at the pool.”
Moments later, the boy broke down in tears, begging his father to comply because he feared Sullivan “could get in jail” and said he did not want to see him locked up.
Black father-of-two Leo Sullivan was staying at the Arden of Warrenville when he claimed he was the only person asked to present an ID to access the swimming pool
Sullivan claimed he had been requested to present an ID because he was ‘the only black man out here’ and that no one else had to show ID
Sullivan reiterated that ‘we’re considered just like everybody else’ as his son became emotional.
Earlier in the video, Sullivan had told the women that he had residence at the complex.
One of the women then approached Sullivan and said, ‘I’m telling you. I don’t want to be recorded.’
But Sullivan continued to capture the spat, insisting that he would be ‘here’ when law enforcement arrived.
‘Who takes an ID to the swimming pool?’ he asked. ‘And not just that, nobody else has been asked to show their identification.’
In a follow-up video posted Thursday, Sullivan explained he had traveled from Atlanta to Chicago to visit his family and show his children where he grew up.
One day before leaving, Kingston wanted to go to the pool, which is when the now-viral spat occurred.
Sullivan claimed that one of the women said, ‘What are you doing here? You people can’t be here.’
He alleged to have shown her his key, explaining later in the video that he had an Airbnb on the fourth floor.
One of the women in the video who allegedly asked Sullivan for his ID approached him and told him that she did not want to be recorded
Sullivan said his son Kingston had wanted to go to the pool one day before leaving Chicago and that the women had confronted his family and called the police on them twice
After that, a second woman entered the picture, which was seemingly when Sullivan began recording.
Sullivan claimed the initial confrontation was resolved once police arrived and told him he did not have to show ID to be at the pool.
He then went inside to ask the women for their names, only for them to allegedly be ‘extremely rude.’
‘I remember telling her that, “you don’t know who you’re talking to,”‘ Sullivan said. ‘”I could be a doctor, a lawyer or somebody important.”‘
After returning to his room, Sullivan heard a ‘very loud knock’ at the door. It was law enforcement again.
Sullivan claimed the officers told him that the women alleged he ‘threatened’ and ‘harassed’ them.
Sullivan said he left ‘feeling very, very humiliated, embarrassed’ but that law enforcement was ‘very gracious’ in their response.
Sullivan said he had traveled to the Windy City from Atlanta because he wanted to show his children where he grew up
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump shared Sullivan’s video on Facebook, calling what transpired ‘ridiculous.’
‘Children should be making memories at the pool,’ Crump wrote on Tuesday. ‘Instead, this young boy is in tears, watching his parent explain why they belong there.’
Though Sullivan wrote that he ‘might sue these people,’ referring to the women at the pool, there was no indication as of Friday that he had taken any legal action.
However, Sullivan said that he now had an attorney and that Crump had also gotten in touch with him.
On Friday afternoon, the Arden Collection rejected Sullivan’s recollection of the events and said he had been told that he had to obtain a pool pass at the front desk before entering the pool area.
A welcome email from the complex, viewed by the Daily Mail, said Sullivan would need to stop by the front desk with IDs in order to receive pool access upon checking in on July 30.
Reservations for more than 30 days would be given a pool card, while temporary access would be provided for reservations less than 30 days.
Sullivan agreed and even provided the names and ages of his two sons, even though he was told he would only need to register adult visitors to the pool.
Arden said they were ‘deeply upset about the extensive misinformation being shared on social media.’
‘Our company has a long history of serving diverse communities, and we proudly employ individuals of many racial and ethnic backgrounds,’ the statement read. ‘We do not condone or tolerate discrimination of any kind, and to falsely portray this incident as discrimination is reckless and harmful to our tenants and our community.’
The company claimed Sullivan ‘never checked in with the front desk upon his arrival (as he agreed to do), never obtained a pool pass, falsely identified himself as a tenant, and never provided ID when politely asked, staff had no way to identify him as a guest, so authorities were called to help resolve the situation.’
However, security footage shared by the Arden shows Sullivan spent a considerable amount of time at the front desk upon check-in. It’s unclear if he obtained a pool pass, but a receptionist handed him at least one card.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Sullivan and the Arden of Warrenville for comment.
