Viral video shows black truck driver blocked in, questioned by white residents on delivery route

A video going viral on Facebook this week shows the moment a black truck driver in Oklahoma says he was blocked in and questioned by residents in a gated community as he was making a delivery.

In the video, which was first broadcast on Facebook on Monday and has since racked up more than 100,000 views, the driver, Travis Miller, could be seen repeatedly telling a man who claimed to be president of the local homeowners association to clear the way so that he could proceed with his delivery route.

“So, I’m going live. This is what I’m dealing with right now,” Miller says as he turns his camera to show the man’s car pulled up in front of his truck on a street in the neighborhood.

“This is what I’m dealing with,” he continues as he turns the camera toward the man, “Napoleon, get out the way.”

“My name is David Stewart,” the man, who appeared to be talking to someone else on the phone, could be heard responding off to the side of Miller’s truck.

“I don’t care,” Miller responds. “Move out the way, sir.”

After several moments during which the man continues to talk on the phone, Miller asks, “Can you tell him to hang up and move so I can leave? Thank you.”

“I asked you one question,” the man tells Miller. 

“It’s none of your business,” Miller says, to which the man responds: “No, no. It is my business.”

“Why, because you [sic] the mayor of the cul-de-sac?” Miller asks.

“I’m president of the homeowners association,” the man responds. “These are private streets.”

“Ok,” Miller replies, “and apparently you need a gate code to get in here, right? So, how did I get in here?” 

“I want to know where you’re going,” the man tells Miller in the clip.

“It’s none of your business. I’m going out, that’s where I’m going, but you’re in my way,” Miller tells the man.

Later during the clip, which runs for about 35 minutes, the man is joined by another who also asks Miller to tell him where he is going, and if he made a “wrong turn” into the gated community. 

“How do I make a wrong turn into a gated neighborhood?” Miller responds. “I need to have a gate code in order to get in, right?”

“How did you get a gate code?” the second man asks Miller.

“That’s none of your business,” he again says, to which the second man responds: “It sure as hell is my business.”

Miller, who told local station KFOR he works for a company that delivers furniture and home appliances, said he didn’t divulge further information to the men because he wanted to protect the customer’s information.

Miller told the station he was in the neighborhood for roughly an hour before the first man decided to move his vehicle.

“They must have contacted the customer because the customer came around and he moved out the way,” Miller said, adding, “I don’t know what prompted him to, or what has happened in that neighborhood for him to respond the way he did.” 

Miller told the outlet that it was difficult to “maintain restraint, especially when I’m dealing with death in the family, two family members within two days of each other.”

At one point in the viral clip, Miller comes to tears as he appears to make a call to police about the incident.

“He said that he called the cops back and let them know that everything was clear, but I didn’t want to leave and have it seem like I was fleeing the scene or anything like that,” he said on the phone.

Miller told the station that he “just did the best I could to not make a bad situation worse.”

Tags Black men delivery services gated communities Racism Viral video

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Most Popular

Load more