Black security guard who was attacked on duty resigns on television after white boss interrupts interview and blames him for attack

A security guard resigned live during an interview with Fox 7 in Austin after his white supervisor accused him of being assaulted at work.

Two young male suspects attacked Percy Payne and damaged property in the parking lot of an office building he was assigned to guard. In a shocking and outrageous case of victim blaming, Payne’s manager at Priebe Security Services yelled at him off-screen after he spoke to reporters about the incident: “Listen, Percy, I wouldn’t have touched him! I wouldn’t have touched him! You touched him!”

On June 24 at around 9:30 p.m., Payne said he saw two men on surveillance video entering a private underground parking lot at his workplace on the corner of East 6th and Brushy St. in East Austin. “I saw two young Hispanic men on two electric scooters,” he told Fox 7.

As he went down the stairs, he saw the men near his car and believed they were trying to steal it.

“One person was standing at my driver’s door with his back to me, looking back. The other person was standing at my passenger door with his back to me, looking out,” he said. After he tried to arrest the two suspects, the situation escalated.

“A young man tried to run me over with his scooter several times. And then they started attacking me,” Payne told the local news station, adding that he noticed a screwdriver sticking out of one of the man’s pockets.

“I heard the man say, ‘Hold him down.’ And then he got the screwdriver and tried to stab me. I let go of him and immediately got my work phone to call 911,” Payne said.

The rest of the attack was captured on surveillance video, so there is little doubt that Payne was just doing his job.

Surveillance video shows two men wearing hoodies covering their faces exiting the parking garage on scooters while Payne pursued them on foot. As the two suspects sped down the exit ramp, one hit the barrier and fell off the scooter, giving Payne a chance to catch up. The footage switches to Payne and the man who fell, seemingly having a calm conversation, as the second suspect circles the two on a scooter.

In the next clip, Payne is seen wrestling with the two men at the parking lot gate. While one man attempted to punch and kick Payne, the other picked up what appeared to be a full plastic water bottle and hurled it at the security guard, narrowly missing his head. In the two-on-one brawl, Payne and one of the suspects landed at least one punch on each other. In the next clip, Payne walked down the parking lot ramp alone.

Payne later told TMZ he was frustrated with the police response to the on-duty incident.

Despite the threat to his safety and his brave attempt to confront the suspects, his supervisor later reprimanded him during the interview with Fox 7 for violating company policy and speaking to the press in uniform.

“We’re very sorry that this happened to you,” she said to Payne, interrupting the interview midway through. “We have a policy that you are not allowed to do interviews in uniform. If you want to do that as a private citizen, you can do that,” she explained off-screen.

Payne wore a light-colored shirt with two illegible patches and an illegible name tag.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and said, “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s also about my safety. And that’s the only way my case will become public.”

Payne decided to quit live, according to the local reporter. Although the manager’s image was blurry in the interview, it was clear that tensions were escalating as she waved a phone in one hand and ordered Payne to take off his uniform.

In the video, Payne is seen in his everyday clothes – a Cleveland Browns football T-shirt – remaining patient despite a barrage of screaming. “Look, Percy, I wouldn’t have touched him! I wouldn’t have touched him! You touched him!”

When he calmly asked her if she thought the incident was his fault, the unnamed manager persisted in his ridiculous behavior, saying, “I would say yes. In every way.”

At this point, the shocked man said, “OK, OK,” and looked into the distance. In an incredible display of politeness, he said to her, “Thank you. No problem.”

Afterwards, he summed up the heated exchange in front of journalists as follows: “The fact that my supervisor basically told me that it was my fault that I was attacked told me everything I needed to know.”

Priebe Security Services has a 3.1 rating on Google based on 112 reviews, with many negative comments coming from people who identify themselves as former employees from at least three years ago. A representative for the company recently told Fox that they are “looking into the situation with Payne.”