A video has emerged online showing a white woman calling the police on a Black family after disputing their right to build a patio on their own property in Montclair, New Jersey.
In the video, other neighbors condemn the woman as she claims a resident of the home assaulted her when she encroached on the property.
One of the homeowners, Fareed Nassor Hayat, identified the woman in a Twitter post as “Susan” and claimed she works for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He accused Susan of filing a “false police report” after demanding to know if he had a permit to install a patio on his property.
“She invoked centuries of brutality in her call to the police and sought to put her black neighbors back in their place,” Hayat wrote. “But to her surprise, her efforts were met by two proudly black human beings, parents, lawyers, law professors, activist, community members, neighbors and fighters, who refused to submit.”
Hayat pointed out that a “collection of largely white neighbors” pushed back against the woman’s assault claim.
“Their efforts were antiracist ideology at work,” Hayat explained. “Each neighbor declared to her and the police that she summoned, that she was a lie and no such assault occurred. She left our home rejected and unfulfilled, yet still empowered to do future harm.”
Watch the video and read Hayat’s account below.
— sophia. (@sophialavergne) June 30, 2020