A black Amazon delivery person was attacked by two white women after one of them let her into a building to drop off a package.
JaMaiya Miller, 25, was attacked shortly after she walked into Belle Meade at the River Oaks apartment complex in an affluent neighborhood of Houston on Dec. 16.
Video she filmed of the attack showed two older white women accusing her of being a thief before pushing her against a wall and beating her.
The employee said her assignment was to leave the package at the buyer's door, so she allowed herself to be lured to the second floor of the building.
JaMaiya Miller, 25, was attacked shortly after walking into Belle Meade at the River Oaks apartment complex in an affluent neighborhood of Houston
Miller said the woman on the right was the one who pushed and attacked her after the one on the left holding the dog called her a thief
While looking for the right apartment, wearing an Amazon vest, she said the woman who let her in “panicked” and called a second lady.
Miller said it was the second woman who physically abused her, but she didn't fight back because she feared she would be blamed.
“This lady spewed racial slurs like I was a thief and hit me several times,” she captioned the video.
'She even threw me against a resident's door and ended up ripping the package I wanted to deliver out of my hand, completely unsolicited'
'Even though I never hit her on the back or touched her. As much as I wanted it, I knew she would turn everything I did to her against me.
“She even shouts, 'She's hitting me!' in the video, as you can literally see her hitting ME. At the same time, you can also see her faux-defending herself while, again, I don't lay a single finger on her.
“I hate that I didn't get a clearer video, but I literally had to defend myself.”
Miller said this woman let her into the second floor of the building, “freaked out” and called the second woman
Miller is accosted by the second woman while still holding the package she was delivering, and tries to defend herself when she is attacked
The Belle Meade at River Oaks apartment complex in an affluent area of Houston
The video started with Miller, still holding the package she was delivering, being confronted by the two women, who said they were going to call in security.
“We've had thieves here and you're a thief!” one screamed.
Miller agreed that they should call building security because they were harassing her. She told them not to touch her anymore.
Then one of the women pushed her against the wall and the footage became chaotic as she tried to stop the lady from hitting her.
Miller wrote that she had never experienced such racist behavior, and that she also tried to blame her for the attack and make it appear that she had attacked them.
“These were both older white women, who I assumed were wealthy based on the neighborhood and the posh apartment complex, and I absolutely believe their vitriol toward me was racially motivated,” she wrote.
“It was so strange, but also completely consistent with the way white women have historically weaponized their privilege.
'The best example of this in the video is when she claims I'm hitting her, when she's literally hitting me.
“And it's crazy how I still felt if I defended myself at that moment and hit her back, that I would face dire consequences.”
Miller set up a fundraiser to help pay her bills because she was too afraid to return to work without being able to choose where to deliver.
“Because of this experience, I have obviously had to take a break from Amazon, which was my main income, and this has been extremely disruptive to my daily life,” she wrote.
Miller said in an update that she filed a police report the night of the incident but was not contacted by investigators until 10 days later.
“He asked a lot of questions about my work at Amazon, but gave no information about my attack or who the Karen is. I also intend to address this in a civil manner,” she wrote.
Miller said she tried to get CCTV footage to support her account of the event, but “the building hasn't been helpful so far.”
Miller runs a podcast in her spare time, but paid the bills while working for Amazon
Miller (right) with a guest she had on her podcast earlier this year
She explained to followers who messaged her that she feared a dangerous escalation if she fought back.
'I am a black woman with dark skin and dreadlocks. “I was afraid what the scene would look like if I hurt an old lady and another old lady and another old lady supported her story,” she said.
“Even with video, the security or police who arrived on the scene could have easily been hostile to me before even asking for video.”
Houston police said the Major Assault Unit was investigating the case and would speak with all parties involved, after which the Harris County District Attorney's Office would decide whether to file charges.
Belle Meade of River Oaks said the policy was for all parcels and packages to be delivered to the concierge desk.
“To our knowledge, a resident accidentally allowed the Amazon delivery person into a limited-access elevator and resident hallway in the building where the event took place,” the report said.
Amazon confirmed that Miller was wearing an Amazon vest and that the company was investigating and cooperating with law enforcement.
