Illinois HVAC Technician Suspended After Doorbell Camera Captures Racial Slur — "Monkeys" — at Black Resident's Home

An HVAC firm in Illinois is gaining widespread attention due to a disturbing doorbell camera footage showing an employee referring to Black individuals as “monkeys” during a service visit at an apartment complex. The incident, shared by JT Toombs on Facebook, features a technician from Diversified Mechanical, Inc. arriving at Toombs’ residence in Peoria on June 24 for AC repair. While attending to the service call, the worker had a conversation on speakerphone with another man who made the offensive remark.Recognizing he was being recorded, the technician distanced himself from the front door, stating, “Hold on, let me take you off speaker,” while chuckling. The alarming 19-second clip has amassed over 900 shares and close to 300,000 views on the platform.Toombs condemned the comments as “shocking and completely unacceptable,” and noted that his apartment complex cut ties with the HVAC company after reviewing the footage. The owner of DMI confirmed that both individuals involved have been suspended pending termination. Toombs expressed disappointment over the absence of an apology from DMI.