An altercation at a hotel in Sacramento, California was captured on video over the weekend after a group of white people harassed a Black woman for kissing her girlfriend in the pool.

Domonique Veasley, 34, was accompanied by another woman who joined her at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel pool. She said they were affectionate like any other couple in the area, but members of a group at the pool took exception when Veasley and the woman started kissing, CBS Sacramento reports.

A woman from the group asked Veasley to stop her display of public affection because of the children nearby.

"Maybe six seconds into it, I get this little tap, 'excuse me' and I look up and this lady's head is right there," Veasley shared with ABC 10. "She’s like, 'I have kids in the pool.' I’ve been in education for the past 13 years so the initial reaction was 'oh yea,' and then it kind of came to me what she was asking me to do."

“You are asking me to stop being me,” she told CBS about the woman’s request.

Although a number of straight couples were also openly affectionate, Veasley said she and her girlfriend were the only people approached by the group on two separate occasions. The 34-year-old believes the group called security at some point during the altercation.

Veasley said during the second encounter with the group of people, she confronted them about their bigoted and homophobic comments.

“I kind of called her out on her homophobia and her friend was there with her and I just asked her, ‘Are you on board? Are you on board with this homophobia with this hint of racism that I feel like I’m picking up?’ Because there were other couples in the pool,” she said.

Witnesses of the incident took videos of the group while chanting “shame” at them, according to ABC 10. The group of white people was escorted from the area by security, but not before they yelled, berated and cursed at the supporters of the couple.


Georgy Avakov, a person who filmed the final moments of the encounter, said the group was asked to apologize to Veasley by both security and bystanders but refused.

Avakov, who wasn’t familiar with either party prior to the altercation, expressed that he was moved into action by the 34-year-old’s bravery against the group.

“It is impossible not to be inspired by her courage, or disturbed by the unprovoked harassment she faced, all while just trying to enjoy a fun afternoon swim with a girlfriend at a hotel pool bar,” he said.

According to CBS, the hotel has confirmed that an altercation happened, but it did not reveal any specific details.

“The Sawyer does not condone discrimination or verbal assault of any kind. An unfortunate disagreement between guests occurred at our pool over the holiday weekend and the matter has since been resolved,” General Manager Nikki Carlson said in a statement. “For any raised case of guest discrimination, we always seek to investigate the matter and diffuse the situation with our trained staff, responsible for looking after the safety and security of our guests and associates.”

Despite the group’s rude and discriminatory behavior, Veasley hopes this incident will serve as a lesson.

“Eventually things are going to change, as long as we keep pushing it. There is no movement, without movement,” she said.