Tom Austin – Minneapolis Man Loses Job, Has Office Lease Terminated

Tom Austin : Minneapolis After threatening to call the cops on black entrepreneurs, a man loses his job and has his office lease terminated.

After being accused of racially stereotyping a group of black entrepreneurs in a video that went viral on social media, a Minneapolis venture investor has lost his job and had his office lease terminated.

The F2 Group’s Tom Austin was caught on camera asking a group of five black males if they were tenants of the MoZaic East building on Lagoon Avenue in Uptown Minneapolis. Austin’s office contract was terminated after the incident went viral, he revealed to Newsweek.

In an email, Austin wrote, “My lease in the office was cancelled for the sake of appeasing mob rule.” “And no, I’m not the CEO of F2 anymore.”

According to the Star Tribune, Stuart Ackerberg, CEO of The Ackerberg Group, which owns the property, was “alarmed” by what he observed in the video.

“I told [Austin] that I didn’t think it was handled effectively and that there are other options,” he said.

Top Figure, a social media and branding business, shared the film on Instagram on Tuesday. Austin informs the men he is a tenant in the building before asking, “Are you?” in one scene.

He asks the men what office they’re in when they say they’re renters as well. He threatens to phone 911 if they refuse.

Austin is seen on the phone in another scene, claiming there are a “whole bunch of people who don’t look to be part of the…” He insisted, however, that he simply called the building manager and not the cops.

Austin told Newsweek that he would have filed a complaint regardless of who was engaged in the event, but that it was “not my role to say anything or question possible trespassers.”

He claimed he was in a terrible mood when he arrived at the gym and was “oblivious to the impression that my conduct could be interpreted as racist.”

He said that he had promised to “reach out for a public apology for stupid behaviour (but not for racism),” but that “nobody has answered and the majority of the public appears to care less.”

Austin expressed surprise that the video had been shared because he and the men continued to work out at the gym for another 45 minutes after the incident while engaging in “semi-friendly race banter.”

“I had already apologised to them TWICE for making them believe it was a race issue, and I had listened to all of their issues,” he stated.

“When I left the gym at the end of the night, I said to everyone of them, “Have a great night, hope we’re doing well.” and gave them a fist bump! I was grumpy and ignorant, but not racist, as the video shows.”

Austin earlier said that he “f***ed up” and “should have handled it differently” in an email to Newsweek, but insisted that the incident had nothing to do with race.

“They got in my face and threatened to contact [building] security, so I threatened back. Regardless of race, I would have done it. So this is a load of nonsense “he stated

A number of the males, according to Austin, were trespassing and “using a private gym that was only approved for building tenants.”

“I objected to them that this isn’t appropriate and it’s unjust to the tenants who pay,” he said, adding that “it appeared like one of the tenants brought four friends.”

Two WeWork members had used their key fobs to gain admission to the gym, according to Ackerberg, and he suspects the other people were also Top Figure staff. He’s been contacted for more information.

Top Figure said the encounter on Monday evening was an example of racial profiling in a commentary on their Instagram photo.

“Normally, as young black entrepreneurs, we don’t speak out about racial profiling and age discrimination that we experience on a daily basis,” the caption said.

“While we were working out, this man came up to us and inquired who we were and if “WE BELONG” in this facility.”

Figure added to the top: “We all pay rent here, and this man threatened to call the cops unless we showed him our key cards. We are sick and tired of putting up with this type of behaviour on a daily basis, and we felt compelled to speak out about it.”

We’ve reached out to Top Figure for more information. F2 Group partner Stan Herman has also been contacted for comment.

The event occurred the same week that George Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparking violent riots.

It also comes after a white woman was dismissed from her job after she was shown in a viral video in Central Park in New York City calling police on a black guy who urged her to put her dog on a leash.