Husband of woman who confronted neighbor for BLM message fired from SF financial firm

Husband of woman who confronted neighbor for BLM message fired from SF financial firm

SF resident Lisa Alexander was under fire over the weekend after a viral video showed her confronting a man over writing "Black Lives Matter" on his retaining wall. She has since issued an apology. SF resident Lisa Alexander was under fire over the weekend after a viral video showed her confronting a man over writing "Black Lives Matter" on his retaining wall. She has since issued an apology. Photo: Twitter Photo: Twitter Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Husband of woman who confronted neighbor for BLM message fired from SF financial firm 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Update, June 15, 11:15 a.m.: The husband of Lisa Alexander, Robert Larkins, was fired from San Francisco-based financial firm Raymond James. In the viral video, Larkins joined Alexander in confronting Pacific Heights resident James Juanillo, asking if he was "defacing private property" or if he actually lived at the house where he was writing "Black Lives Matter" in washable chalk.

"Raymond James has zero tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind," read a statement tweeted by the firm at 3:40 a.m. on Monday. "An inclusive workplace is fundamental to our culture, one in which people are free to bring their whole selves to their careers, and we expect our associates to conduct themselves appropriately inside and outside of the workplace."

Larkins reportedly co-led the firm's national pension funding and tobacco settlement securitization teams, covering the state of California, UC Regents and California State University.

"After an investigation into the circumstances of a video alleging racism by one of our associates, we have concluded that the actions of he and his partner were inconsistent with our values, and the associate is no longer employed with Raymond James," the statement reads.

A white couple call the police on me, a person of color, for stencilling a #BLM chalk message on my own front retaining wall. “Karen” lies and says she knows that I don’t live in my own house, because she knows the person who lives here. #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/rOpHvKVwgP — Jaimetoons (@jaimetoons) June 12, 2020

Lisa Alexander has issued an apology.

In a viral video that has amassed widespread criticism and over 12 million views on Twitter since it was posted Thursday, the Pacific Heights resident was seen confronting one of her neighbors for stenciling "Black Lives Matter" in chalk on his own property. The neighbor in question, James Juanillo, filmed their conversation as she and another man questioned whether he actually lived there and accused him of defacing the pavement.

Alexander eventually called the police on Juanillo, who later said that officers recognized him as a resident of the property and left without getting out of their patrol car.

But after watching the video, the CEO of skincare line LA FACE said she was "shocked and saddened" by her behavior.

"There are not enough words to describe how truly sorry I am for being disrespectful to him last Tuesday when I made the decision to question him about what he was doing in front of his home," Alexander wrote in a statement shared by ABC7 on Sunday afternoon. "I should have minded my own business."

Since the video was released, Alexander appears to have deleted her Twitter account and the website for LA FACE is now inactive. Birchbox, a former distributor of the skincare line, later announced it had cut ties with her brand and would not work with it again in the future.

"The last 48 hours have taught me that my actions were those of someone who is not aware of the damage caused by being ignorant and naive to racial inequalities," wrote Alexander. "I did not realize at the time that my actions were racist and have learned a painful lesson."

Juanillo, who identifies as Filipino, said he has rented the house for nearly two decades.

"People should ask themselves if this Karen would have believed me if I said, 'Yes Maam, I sure do live in this multi million dollar mansion, for almost 18 years now!'" he tweeted on Saturday. "If she was capable of believing that in the first place, she would never have bothered me."

Read the full apology on ABC7 here.

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Lisa Alexander's husband as Robert Larkin. The story has been updated to reflect that his last name is Larkins.

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Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @byabartlett