A white therapist in Georgia has been fired from her job after she was filmed asking a black man fishing in the lake near her house whether he lived there.
Anthony Gibson, an aspiring actor who now runs multiple social media channels sharing memes and fishing clips, posted the footage of their encounter on TikTok on Tuesday.
DailyMail.com has discovered that online records show that Gibson’s father is registered as a homeowner in the gated community where the incident took place. As per the community’s rules, Gibson was permitted to fish in the lake without a license as the guest of a resident.
Gibson, who lives in Columbus, Georgia, has been challenged multiple times by locals in the neighborhood, asking why he is there and saying the lake is for residents only.
In the clip, which has 7.5 million views, the woman – named by her employer, Sea Glass Therapy, as Tanya – approached Gibson and a friend and asks: ‘How are you?’
They greet her hello, and she then asks: ‘Are you guys residents in any way?’
Gibson’s friend replies: ‘Are we bothering you in any way?’
Tanya says: ‘I just have to ask.’
Anthony Gibson, an aspiring actor and social media influencer, documents his fishing adventures online. On Tuesday he posted a clip of an encounter with a woman named Tanya
Tanya asked Gibson and his friend if they lived there, saying the lake was accessible only to residents
The friend says: ‘Don’t talk to me.’
Tanya continues: ‘This lake is for residents only. So…’
She says she will take a picture of their license plates and ‘forward it on’.
Gibson, who is holding the camera filming himself and the encounter, says: ‘OK, so this is what I go through. This is the third person. I’m in my own neighborhood, and a white person came and bothered me while I am fishing. Another white person bothered me while I was fishing.’
As she walks off, he yells: ‘Hey, don’t leave now! Do you live here? Where’s your address? This is unbelievable.’
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Gibson frequently shares photos and videos of his fishing trips
He asks for her name, for ‘the next meeting’, and then moves to record her license plate.
Sea Glass Therapy, which is based in Newnan, said they were stopping to work with Tanya, who was a freelance member of their team.
‘Sea Glass Therapy is a place of acceptance, healing, and inclusion of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or background,’ the company wrote in a statement on Facebook.
‘We stand against discrimination of all forms. We have terminated our business relationship with the Independent contractor, Tanya, in order to uphold our values and standards.
‘We strive to be a service to our community and do whatever we can to accommodate the needs of it, operating with integrity.’
Gibson has documented previous encounters with local residents, and he and his friends say that the affluent white community cannot accept that a group of black people live in their midst.
Gibson filmed one white man later that same day who gave his name as John, said he was on the board of the Home Owners’ Association, and asked whether they lived there.
They asked him for his address, which he provided, and then refused to give theirs.
‘I think she literally called him for help,’ said Gibson in the comments on his video.
On June 10, he posted a video at night, showing the police had been called.
‘The same people are harassing us because we are young, and black,’ he said.
He said he had been repeatedly asked for his identification.
On the clip, he wrote: ‘Harassed by neighbors and police because I can’t fish in my own neighborhood!’
