Authored by Joy Elán
Oakland, Cali – On a sunny Sunday morning at Lake Merritt, a couple of people wanted to have a get-together and enjoy the scenery. However, that pleasure was interrupted when a woman decided to show up at their spot and call the police.
It does not take much to figure out what color they were and what color she was. The guys are respected members of the community, and they were having a joyous moment. They had their spot, and no one seemed bothered except this woman. She took it upon herself to call the police. It was discovered that she had been at the scene for two hours pretending to be on the phone with the police to intimidate them.
According to one of the men targeted, Kenzie Smith, the White lady was bothering him and his friend, Deacon for BBQing at Lake Merritt in a designated BBQ zone.
“I got out of the car at Cleveland Cascade stairs, and when I walked across the street, she was standing there on the phone. She said, ‘Oh great, another nigger.’
Smith looked around because he didn’t know who she was talking to. He was the only Black person in that area of the sidewalk. He walked over to his friend Deacon, where he had the BBQ, and said “Yo bro, what’s going on?”
He told Smith she had called the police for BBQing. “We both started cracking up, laughing,” Smith said.
According to Smith, it was around this time a young Black lady was standing over to the corner. She approached the table where the BBQ was being set up and introduced herself. She said she had witnessed the situation. By this time, the White lady walked over to the table, and she slammed her fist on the table and said: “There’s no BBQ today, you need to leave.”
“She was saying things like, ‘We weren’t welcome in the area of the lake.’ She told me and Deacon that she owned Lake Merritt. Also, she said we were not welcomed to be there. I felt like she was saying Blacks weren’t welcome,” Smith said.
Smith said, “She kept saying we were going to jail. She said that she was going to file a complaint for us cooking BBQ in the park. She said she knows her rights, that the rights state if she tells the police if she has a problem with us then we are going to go to jail.”
This one experience is not anything new to Black Oakland residents who want to chill on the east side of Lake Merritt (the Lakeshore Avenue side). Lake Merritt is a public park, which does not require a permit. It is first to come, first serve, as long as people are not doing anything illegal.
Davey D talked about this extensively on Facebook and was mentioned in the East Bay Express in May 2015, “Even when ‘permitted events’ took place, hostile residents living by the Lake organized and tried to shut them down if it was too many Black folks. Case in point last 4th of July, several thousand dollars was laid out to have an annual 4th of July party and picnic. Unbeknownst to organizers, a group of residents in the luxury high rise 1200 Lakeshore held a series of meetings including one with Park and Rec to get the event canceled.. What saved the day were Black residents who live there who pushed back…”
Cases like this go back to the Festival at the Lake, a long time Oakland event and tradition that shut down when White residents near the lake complained about the festival drawing the “wrong kind of crowd.” Occurrences like these are when privilege shows up and manipulates laws to their advantage. It is okay to have a picnic, but not a BBQ. Same thing, different choice of words and demographics.
Smith said, “I was like, so if you tell the police that two Black men are BBQing, that means we’re going to jail. I just didn’t understand the logic in the situation. And then it was like, she would continuously say little things to us, and she would act like she was on the phone talking to the police. She would say things like ‘Yea he’s wearing this,” or she would say, ‘Yea he won’t look at me officer because he thinks he’s going to jail.’ Or she would say, ‘Yea, he’s going to be somebody’s bitch in there.’ It was mind-boggling the things she was saying.”
Smith said, “It was like if someone was to put you in a box and say all the hurtful things to you at one time. That’s how it felt.”
Smith’s story continues as he mentioned his friend Deacon who was first at the scene had already been harassed by the woman for a while before Smith arrived. Deacon told Smith he did not know the woman, that she just came out of nowhere, called the police and kept telling him he had to leave.
According to Smith, when the young Black lady showed up (mentioned earlier), she was walking around the lake and heard what the lady was saying, heard it was racist. So she stopped to see what was going on, she asked Deacon if everything was okay. She started filming and put the much of the incident up on her facebook. Unfortunately, we were not able to get her contact information before she left.
The young woman asked the White lady to please move herself from the area. The White woman turned it back on her and told her to “mind her fucking business. This is my property. You don’t even know what’s going on.” The White woman became more aggressive towards the young Black woman. “It just was weird it was like, I think she wanted a reaction today. And she didn’t get the reaction she was looking for,” Smith said.
Smith had enough of the encounter with the White woman, for an hour he had dealt with her harassment. He decided to call his wife who was up the streets telling his friend Deacon, “You’ll see what she does. Just watch.”
Kenzie’s wife, Michelle Dione showed up around 12:50 pm. Dione, walked up to the White woman ready to film as she had already been sent a picture of the lady and knew what she looked like.
Dione is a White woman and what was cool about this was she was using her privilege to stop it. Dione knew her rights, and she was not harassing the woman.
“There’s this silent code of behavior that White women know, they are taught if you just change your tone you can often be deemed ‘innocent’ and believable to the point that your word becomes law. When I first approached her, she had that tone, the one that we are supposed to speak to police officers, the one that makes us automatically justified no matter what. I don’t think she expected me to bypass her bs and call her out,” Dione said.
The woman stole a business card out of Dione’s hand, which started the second longer video Dione recorded. Dione said the woman tried to use her “victim voice” and used a lot of trigger words to get the police to be there faster, such as “they are are threatening me” when it was just Dione who was confronting her in her face.
The White woman who was harassing wanted to make sure that the men and women at the park were held responsible for her authority as a White woman. However, the woman did not like that someone was watching her and following her. She got a taste of her own nasty, racist medicine. All she had to do was mind her business and stay away from the area.
After the lady ran away to a Quik Stop on Brooklyn and Newton, the police arrived and talked to her. The officer told Dione that she did not do anything wrong following her as long as she did not touch her. Dione informed the police that the woman should have called the Park services and not the police. The police agreed. As Smith noticed that she appeared to be mentally unstable, the police said that she wanted to evaluate her mental health too.
All this was taking place within 30 minutes, and despite the police showing up, the lady returned later at 4:15 pm according to Smith. The White woman harassed them again and said they weren’t supposed to be there, they were supposed to move. Smith told her that the Oakland police officer said to them that they did not have to move, and that the charcoal code was not enforced.
See video of Dione confronting the White woman here.
The manipulative demeanor and code words could have escalated this situation…she should be charged for wrongful attempted murder!
As a minimum, she should be billed for the 911 call, the vehicle and the uniforms on the spot – She held up valuable resources which could have been needed elsewhere.
I nearly died laughing at the beginning when she explained that charcoal bar-b-qs are dangerous and waste park resources, when she’d been calling the police for 2 full hours to report the emergency beautiful day at the lake.
i agree. these white people (i am shamefully one) are attempting murder because they KNOW cops shoot black people first and mayba ask questions later.
Thanks for understanding 😊
This entire article is based on racial profiling, and the assumption that all black people are up to no good, and the need to change that perception among some people. Yet you’re saying “these white people (i am shamefully one)”? I am not “ashamed” to be white just because some white people are racists, no more than blacks should be ashamed because some black people are criminals. Your pandering is revolting.
Yeah we’re ashamed your white to.
I think that broad was a total ass but the only racism I was hearing was from you and the BBQers them for referring to her constantly as a white woman and you because you think it’s shameful to be white.
I agree and thank you for acknowledging that. And i know it’s hard but don’t feel ashamed for the actions of others, just continue to be different and stand out. I understand though because i find myself embarrassed all the time by other so called blacks but the reality is, you can only control your actions not others. Peace be unto you
Don’t be ashamed of being white. Just be a good person and treat people equally like the woman behind the camera, Michelle. Nobody should be ashamed of their ethnicity no matter what it is.
Why are you ashamed of being white?
The only thing you need to be ashamed of as a white person is if you don’t use that privilege to protect and stand up for those who are unjustly harassed like these gentlemen were.
If you don’t do that when you find yourself around that sort of injustice, then *that* is what you should be ashamed of, not the color of your skin that you were born with and had no control over.
im just ashamed to be human
I’m white and I cannot believe the entitlement of this woman. Harrassing people who are just having a nice little bbq? The single greatest thing you can do on a warm day near a lake?
Unbelievable, my blood is boiling from rage. I’m glad I wasn’t at the scene.
I’m in full support of the guys with the charcoal grill and I hope they never stop, despite what some entitled mentally unstable fucking assholes think or say to them.
Also, the white woman is definitely a racist. You can almost smell it. How she speaks, moves, never removes her fucking shades. Even how she looks.
Never be ashamed of being white number one. We are born the color we are and never should apologize for that. Number 2- this woman does not speak for all white people just like you shouldn’t say “these white people” when clearly in this case it is just this one. Clearly his wife was white and she was not in on the games of this woman so to say “these white people” is the same as that woman saying “these black people”
It’s not ok on either side of the spectrum. We can only eliminate racism if we first admit that not everyone is a racist. Not everyone is something simply based on their skin tone. Me saying that all black people are criminals is the same as you saying all white people are racist. Not true. I see many people of white ethnicities that show racism against blacks just as I see many people of color hating on white people in general simply because they are white. We have to all first come to an agreement on that. Then we tackle those that are truly being racist. I see a lot of videos like this but there are also cases where people of color single someone or some group out for simply being white and they themselves are using racial slurs. So people of color are justified because they have been suppressed while we are okay being targets for the same bigotry because it’s “justified”? Many races not just blacks have been suppressed. Take a look thru history. Blacks were not the only slaves. If you can stand up for African Americans because they were slaves then you must also stand for everyone else that has every been enslaved. I
Mean heck, even women were enslaved to some copasity if you really think about it. We had no rights ourselves until we fought for them. You cannot cookie cutter history for your own agenda and walk around as if you are better than a racist.
What’s justified in a white girl walking down the streets and being ambushed by a group of girls that are of color simply because she is white in an all black neighborhood?
We can’t fight racism if we aren’t going to acknowledge it in every ethnicity not just the ones we pick and choose for social media ratings. I was raised in a suburb of Milwaukee with a very large black population. Not just black but Hispanic and Asian as well. I remember many times I was harassed for simply being white by people of color just for hanging out with my black friends. I never once said a racial slur or tried to be something I wasn’t. I was white, blonde and blue eyed. Little did many know that my last name was Martinez and in fact I also have Native American blood as well. Didn’t matter. I looked white and to them I did not belong in “their” neigborhood hanging out with my friends. Didn’t matter that my friends were black. That was followed up with comments to my friends such as “why are you hanging with this white girl?” “Why you dating this white girl?” Getting on the bus and having men yell “snow bunny” as I took a seat. So on and so forth. Just as that park was for everyone, so was the neighborhood I frequented. I had every right to be there like anyone else. Racism goes full circle. It isn’t just whites vs blacks or whites vs Latinos. If you are going to walk thru life as a victim to everyone else than so be it. If not, then do something about it but not just for your fellow people of color. Fight racism against anyone of any color. Fight bigotry entirely, not just what fits your narrative. I didn’t come here to rant. I simply came to correct your statement which further breeds more hate and racism. “White people” are not the problem. Racists and bigots are the problem and the only way to combat those things is by refusing to be part of it in any shape or form. Don’t come here to proclaim self hatred and “shame” for being white to score points with the black community. You are not the problem if you are not a racist. However you can be racist against your own rAce which is a little how your comment came across. Although I’d bet you have many white friends that you don’t vent to daily about how crappy they are for being white. It’s okay to say that something is wrong but don’t ever apologize for the color of your skin because of someone else’s actions. Say that it’s wrong and move on or do something about it. Just my two cents. ✌🏻
It is not shameful to be white. Just don’t tolerate racism from your counterparts.
https://www.theroot.com/white-people-are-cowards-1826958780
Don’t ever be ashamed of your race or who you are…..anybody. bible tells us all look different, but all flesh is the same. Be proud of where way God made you White or Black or whatever
To Stacy, and everyone, everywhere: Never be ashamed of your race. Others came before you, more will follow.
Remember who you are.
Don’t be ashamed. Be an ally.
After he read all the comments and watching the video it could be that the lady who was making all the fuss weather or not barbecuing was supposed to be with charcoal, my feeling is that maybe she was mentally unstable. Someone who is on the phone for two hours and has hassles with another woman and and begins to cry at the end of this situation, not really explain her the other woman, there’s a lot in her actions, i feel umaybe she just wasn’t all there and has her own issues. I’m just grateful that the guys were cool and that nothing did happen and I do agree people of color especially African-Americans get a raw deal and really does hurt to see all these issues because they don’t deserve that kind of treatment.
No…..You’re reading too much i to this. She’s just a racist bitch.
if she was crazy it was the job of trained professionals on the phone and in the police force to realize that and not participate in her madness. When racist and mentally unstable white people call the cops on POC they are relying on society’s racism to work in their favor. Racism means judging others based on race and people of all races can be racists, including those who claim all white people are racists just because of our skin color. I am willing to shoulder my responsibility in this system as a white person and be the change I want to see in the world; that includes listening and learning, rejecting preferential treatment and looking at the merits of people’s cases, not their color.
All racists are mentally ill .,,
Randy the woman didnt give her name so what are they suppose to call her a bad name like she wanted them to do? Like b#*ch.
Randy… “you’re” not your… rube
She wasn’t mentally unstable. She was acting like a person who just got publicly humiliated and owned in every way she deserved and when she spoke with the officer she decided to use the emotion she was stubbornly trying to hide earlier because she thought it would help her narrative. So she let it all out cuz you could kinda tell she wanted to cry throughout that whole video. She may or may not have an identifiable mental condition but that needs to remain irrelevant in how we respond to the behavoir. The behavior is reprehensible no matter who it is or what their reason. No one gets a pass. No one. That’s not to say no one is beyond redemption. This lady seems sad and I hope that her nationwide humiliation allows her to grow. But she won’t if we let her off the hook. So I hope right now she feels as dumb as she looks.
Okay, I’m a white guy. I used to live around the Oaktown/Beserkley border. My first thought seeing this was what the hell is that nutcase chick doing there? That isn’t New Hampshire,it’s the East Bay. I always dug Oakland, goin to the Caribe n playón dominós, tryin to get to see Too Short, A’s games, Dead shows,good food etc etc etc. I always knew where I was. Is that lady blind and stupid? How the hell can she live in the East Bay and be a racist? She’s gotta get on down road for everyone’s sake.
She probably is mental. But how are people bar-b-queing supposed to protect themselves from being harassed by someone who has a mental disorder? Her crazy actions are not ultimately going to harm her, but innocent people. When crazy people wander into traffic or do other things that don’t make sense and might pose harm to the public, they get moved along or even taken into custody, for everybody’s sake.
You are an idiot if you think she should be charged with attempted murder
Attempted murder is a bit hyperbolic, I’ll admit. But she was definitely counting on the police taking her side and – at the very least – breaking up their barbecue. If some people got arrested in the process, she could care less. As long as she got what she wanted, she wasn’t concerned about their well-being which, given how certainly interactions with police have tragically ended, could have resulted in something worse. But, yeah, attempted murder is pretty exaggerated.
Why
She shouldn’t have been charged with murder, that’s a bit excessive. I wonder what would have happened if the guys offered her a burger or a hot dog?
I don’t know where you got the information that she was “charged with murder” but no one was charged with anything because a crime wasn’t committed.
Bitch would’ve told the police they were trying to poison her
I understand what you’re saying! I watched “Dear White People” that showed it you call the cops and there are people of color, the cops will focus on them and are very quick to pull out a gun. So if the cops had approached the gentlemen barbecuing and things got out of control and one of them was shot, should the white woman be prosecuted for murder because she wrongfully accused the men of wrongful barbecuing?
Hell yeah! Maybe not full on murder, but she would be responsible. If she didn’t call the cops, they wouldn’t have shown up, and nobody would’ve gotten shot in your scenario
I think a murder charge won’t fly here
She should have been charged with disturbance of the peace. She should have been taken to station and booked for interfering with public peace and maybe she won’t do this again. I am white and cannot stand for anybody white or black to hold themlves up than I’m better than you and I should be here but not you. Get a life lady mind your own business.
did she ever get her card back
No, she explained to the officer what was going on and the officer took the card back after asking for her to leave.
Can we get an update on the card situation? Watched the whole 25 minutes to not know if the police made her return the card or not! Inquiring minds want to know 😂😂😂😂😂
Please provide an update to this……..I also watched the whole video, and really wanted to see the cop say “just give her the card”. And then it all be over.
The card wasn’t returned.
We will try to write an update later. The card was taken away from the woman by the police officer, so she does not have the mans information. She wanted to use the information to continue harassing him beyond the park.
Michelle said the police took the card from the woman and did not give it back. Michelle watched her the entire time and she was unable to take a picture of it. The gentlemen (who’s info was on the card) has received no harassing phone calls so far.
We will write an update soon, gathering more information. The police have the card, they took it from her so she could not use it to continue harassing the man.
Why did the police keep the card? Do they usually keep something they’ve decided the person has no business having or do they return it to the owner? Please, white people, tell me.
Yes! Did she get her card back ??? We NEED to know! And good job to the police that had to waste time on this bs
Did anyone think about inviting the white folk? Its possible they felt left out. /sarc
Come on, really? If you were have a family gathering are YOU gonna invite random people that you don’t socialize with? People that you had not planned for and therefore possibly not have enough food? Stop trying to be politically correct.
What part of /sarc don’t you understand?
Stop being an offensive imbecile.
What would be so wrong about sharing a meal in a social situation with some people you have never met?
Are you really such an insecure little bitch that you can’t open your mind to the possibility?
You are what is killing this country. You are why this kind of shit continues to happen. Go the fuck back to Europe. lol
I be believe the invitation reply was meant to be sarcastic
Did you not see where Amaya wrote /sarc? Doesn’t that stand for sarcasm?
amaya: not stupid
Weeble Jones: stupid
IF someone steal something out of your hand, business card or whatever, you have the right to beat the junk out of them and get it back. That’s exactly what you should’ve been done instead of telling her to give it back.
Did you read the article at all? The police said it was fine to follow, but not to touch her. She would’ve got into trouble if she just tried grabbing the card back. She knew what she was doing. Nobody has the right to assault.
No, you don’t have that right. Dione is smart … you’re the opposite.
Thank you, even though it was/is your man, THANK YOU!!! I have witnessed much less… Keep your phone fully charged… This climate we’er living in is not going to get better anytime soon… Blessings
Thank you Michelle and anyone who stood up to this bigot. Kenzie and Deacon are far better men and people than we deserve. What we do, have done and continue to do in this country to people of color turns my stomach. Every white person should not only be putting ourselves between people of color and harassment but atoning for what we have done and continue to allow to go on. Fight for what is right, fight for the good in people and protect them.
Racists whine about white guilt, but the fact is that blacks were the victims of incomprehensible violence by whites that has severe consequences to this day:
https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/05/04/608470338/fresh-air-for-may-4-2018-americas-history-of-racial-terrorism?showDate=2018-05-04
Thank you for demonstrating your white privilege.
Every white perosn should atone for what they have done? I have done nothing racist in my life to atone for. My ethnicity includes Irish German and Native American. Should every person I meet atone for what’s happened to my ancestors on every continent? Does it sound ridiculous yet?
I will never atone for what people did 100 years ago 50 years ago or 30 years ago because I WASNT THERE. I will however stand for what’s right, battle racism where I can and continue to walk thru life unprejudiced in my mindset and open to people of all walks of life. It is all any of us can do. If all of us did that then racism and bigotry could finally end worldwide. Will it happen in my lifetime? Probably not. Mostly I believe that because of the things going on right now and how it’s fueling more hatred and segregation. Technology sure isn’t helping that although it really could if used in the right way. People are full of hate no matter what happens and use that hate as a weapon. People can be racists for more than just the simple idea that they hate said race of people. They could be racists simply because they are afraid of what they don’t understand or hate anything that’s different no matter what color you are. I pray it does end in my child’s lifetime though😔. ✌🏻
See now, I disagree with you on being unprejudice to all walks of life. Racism, although a form of being prejudice, is not the same thing. Like, I’m prejudice as fuck against racist, pedophiles, murderers, rapist, predators, and child abusers.
What a cunt bag crazy lady! Unstable isn’t the word…batshitcrazy is more like it!
@Tite Trax Stop using what’s been done to keep the black people down as an excuse to revert to using racism against others. I’m a Black female who have witnessed race from all walks of life. Racism knows no color..So it’s safe to say even us Blacks are some of the most racist people as well..some just aren’t willing to admit to it. This Country..this planet, the people who lives on this planet.. is all of one race..we all are of one color and that’s the color of God. If you don’t get it then let me shorten it for you..One country,one nation under God=One under the command of God.. We all are created in the image of God.
Because two wrongs make a right, is that it?
And because every single white person of the millions and billions on the planet were/are all personally responsible for the shit done to black people, too, right? Even if neither they nor their ancestors were anywhere even remotely near any of it?
Gotcha.
Racism exists among people all races, just sayin’.
Stfu, asshole. Way to go with making precisely the same generalizations MANY Whites do about MANY Blacks. You idiots, yes BOTH of you racist shitstains, & which are a ton on each end, are the real problem. Your tribalism, & your deep-seeded hatred for the worst stereotypes in both races, are what’s not going to allow society to evolve as a whole. Your blanket-casting biases can’t allow you to recognize that even if there’s in fact much scum on both ends of the spectrum, you still can’t conduct yourself as it ALL members in said ends are those reviled archetypes.Everyone should be approached & judged on an individual basis, & only WHEN evidence irrefutably proves recursively as to the detestable natures of said individuals, should you come to a conclusion for given INDIVIDUALS. Or in any event, subgroups insofar as they constitute the stereotypes to denounce. But no, to you freaks it’s either ”ALL”, or ”MOST”, & which is a fucking lie no matter how you dice it. But go ahead, you just keep on feeding your nonsense if it helps you sleep at night.
That woman was crazy. Period. White people as a whole DO NOT act that way. Did she give the card back because she better have or my white ass would beat her myself. I am so sorry this happened, this is not a reflection on the my people and the people I know. It makes me horrified and angry and I am so sorry she berated you on a nice family gathering… unforgivable. AND then she wanted to act scared, God have mercy if I run into that woman. PS: I hope you had nice time after the trash left. One love!
Really? Would you stop trying to separate humans by race?
She didn’t say *anything* about knowing what you have to endure, or indeed make any claims about anything except what she herself would do if she were to come across a situation like this!
Y’all poison your own well by accusing people of doing or saying things they never did or said, and projecting the sins of some onto everyone else.
wow i never thought id see a whale cry
Seems to me people are missing an important point. That woman is mentally challenged in some way. I mean she is not right in the head, there is something wrong with her. To be so fixated, so intense for a period of over two hours over something so very trivial. Then to break down emotionally like that, she has head problems. She needs loads of therapy, possibly at an in-patient facility. Now I am wondering if she is off her medication? Whatever race may or may not have played in this thing, I see this far less of being a Cracker problem and much more a Quacker problem. The lady is a quack, and Mental Health Care in America is in a shambles. A real tragedy. What were those people grilling anyway? Burgers? Hotdogs? Chicken? Suddenly I’m getting hungry …..
You are one of the only voices of reason I could find. This lady obviously has mental problems, and I think it has absolutely nothing to do with race (at least in the video) and everything to do with her possibly being on the autism spectrum. They’re painting her as a super villain when she’s just a quack! Now people are seeking to find her and give her shit based on no evidence. I see crazy ladies like this everyday.
Through all of this I have wanted to BBQ so bad…
Sorry people on the autism spectrum are generally very gentle souls and certainly do not act like that and AUTISM IS NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS!!!!! Do not put that on my people
How can you call people with autism “quacks”? There is nothing wrong being on the spectrum. People like you with your name calling is what makes it hard for them to try to belong and fit in. Generally, those with autism is so intelligent that they find it hard to relate and socialize. If you know so much about ASD then you wouldn’t be calling them quacks and crazy.
No! She IS NOT on the autism spectrum! Nothing about her behavior indicates autism. I can’t imagine any autistic person caring one iota about some community park rule involving BBQ grills, let alone spending around 2 hours having alleged conversations with police over it, and getting anxious because they haven’t responded yet. Please learn what being on the autism spectrum actually IS! (From someone who actually is on the autism spectrum)
MOST whites are sick. The sickness is called white supremacy/racism. Don’t get on here attempting to normalize or deflect her racist behavior. We’re SICK of that bullshit and it will be REMEMBERED when we SOON overthrow your dominance on this planet. Continue LYING and DEFLECTING and we’ll murder EVERY last one of you when we get on top. Start apologizing and attempting to make amends and we WON’T. Pure and simple.
Seems like you and the lady in this video are missing some of the same screws…
After watching the second woman’s video, I felt she too was unstable. She was breathlessly repeating herself non-stop, sometimes saying silly things, and just elevating the situation into hysteria.
I appreciate her stepping in to record the woman, but her escalations were, in my opinion, what really put those picnicking guys in danger. Cops show up and there is screaming, with people inches apart arguing? Guns are likely to be drawn…
So the police have the card? Do ever plan to give Dione her card back because I don’t know why the police feel the need to keep it.
I’m not sure why they kept it. As long as she does not have it that is fine with us, she was intent on harassing the man beyond the park with that information.
Oh stop it! Fucking apologists climbing out of the shrubs.No way in hell can you diagnose someone like that from a 5 minute clip, and I take umbrage with people claiming that any undiagnosed mental health issue gives you a free pass to be a blatant asshole. There’s a shitload of these antebellum era bitches venting their spleens all over the internet, and so far, no one’s slapped the taste out of their mouths that I’ve seen.
What was up with that card thing? The woman who called the police looked (and was) absolutely horrible for calling the police over what is at worst a possible minor park infraction. (Does she call the police on people who litter? Maybe if they’re black). However, when the reporter/video person harangues her over a business card, which most people hold out with the expectation it will be taken, all it does is give an opportunity for people to sympathize with the otherwise unsympathetic caller. The reporter comes off as trying to create conflict rather than report on one or resolve it. The only people who look good here are the BBQers. Next time, let the person’s actions speak for themselves.
The card had one of the bbq-er’s information and the reporter didn’t want him being harassed at a later time, especially at his place of employment.
I wrote the article based on the video and interviewing Michelle and her husband. There’s another video from a woman who filmed the incident prior to Michelle arriving.
Why is it always the POC to blame? When a white cop shoots an unarmed Black man people like you always say the same thing, “but we don’t know the whole story.” You just have to ask, “what is it he was doing to get himself shot? What was left out?”
You’re racist because you always see the white person as the victim. If you applied your logic equally then you’d be blaming her for putting herself in that situation to begin with. But, no. In your world the white person is always in the right.
When that asshole started crying the minute the cop got out of the car even HE knew she was faking. If you check out his face you can see the start of a smirk. If I was there I would have bet her $100 that if she took off her glasses there wouldn’t be ONE DAMN TEAR. We all know what fake crying looks like on a little kid and that idiot was fake crying all the way. She wasn’t even very good at it. They have no BBQ zones but what they really need is a no CRAZY zone.
Hahaha! Exactly. Did y’all notice how quickly she stopped crying when she had to explain the so-called “violations” using a map to the copper?! Like 50 seconds prior to that, she can’t breathe from all that sorrow and victimization and then all of a sudden, she goes “Let me tell you Officer who the Law has been violated in my WHITE presence” Pshh.. She’s not crazy. She plain old RACIST. Truly crazy don’t have the time and sense to steal a business card to plot another harassment on this very same person. Straight up RACIAL and no if, buts or ands about it.
Oh come on, sure that woman was racist, but I think her behavior is more in line with mental illness than anything else. She’s clearly mentally unstable IMO.
Can’t wait for the BBQ this weekend. That is gonna drive her CRAZY to see….
Yeah Marina we’re ashamed your white to.
I think that broad was wacked and a total ass but the only racism I was hearing was from you and the BBQers them for referring to her constantly as a white woman and you because you think it’s shameful to be white
I think you’re mentally unstable Tite Trax, talkin about rivers of blood n shit. Wtf?! LOL
You’re DEFINITELY unstable, Tite Trax! You’re giving white people the validation they need to still discriminate, you are the angry (Well in your case, insane) black men they think all black men are. It’s black men like you who are still getting POC killed.
OK, she may be mentally unstable or autistic or whatever, but that’s still no excuse for racism and being a harassing bitch.
Stop making excuses for these people
Why do people keep thinking she’s autistic? Nothing about her behavior indicates autism. I can’t imagine any autistic person caring one iota about some community park rule involving BBQ grills, let alone spending around 2 hours having alleged conversations with police over it, and getting anxious because they haven’t responded yet. Please learn what being on the autism spectrum actually IS!
I’m a white woman. I found this situation to be appalling. I’m not giving her a pass for being white. Unless she is out on the street or in the park, calling the cops everyday for white people littering, this IS racism and given the climate we live in, as far as I can see, for a white woman to call the cops on African American’s it can mean jail and even death if it is a trigger happy cop. So she does NOT get a pass from me for needing mental health care. She can be both a racist and mentally unwell. That doesn’t excuse it.
Leave it to a sad, lonely, disenfranchised farce like this woman to infringe upon other people’s rights to have a barbecue on a beautiful day out by Lake Merritt. Isn’t it sad how in the era of Trump, it has enabled racist scum like this one to find a voice in society and then when she doesn’t get her way throw a crying tantrum when police arrive? It’s always the disenfranchised white man or woman who couldn’t make it on their own in society to be the first one to crawl out from under their rocks under MAGA when in point of fact they have contributed nothing to society Look at the statistics on hate crimes and incidents since Donald Dump was put in office according to both the FBI and Southern Poverty Law Center. Let’s also not chalk this up to mental illness either, she was fully cognitive of what she was doing both before and particularly after when the police arrived
One person makes a “ashamed to be white” joke and an entire comment section on an article of racism divulged itself into “its okay to be white!” A) It was a joke. B) Not what this is all about. Can black people have any space to discuss their issues with out Uncle Rucus chiming in somewhere? Gajo goddamn. You wanna know how to help your black friends? Stop talking about yourself for 5 fucking minutes and listen, and acknowledge that it ain’t about you or your problems. Be a selfless person for once in your life. Innocent people trying to make their lives safer and all ya’ll are doing is talking over them about how you shouldn’t be ashamed to be white. You should be ashamed you had that conversation to begin with. It’s disrespectful to the article, to the author, to the website and to the people whose voices are trying to be heard. You SHOULD feel ashamed.
Guys relax
Don’t be ashamed of being white or black.
Be ashamed of being americans and christians.
All the war crimes..
All the imperialism..
The lady has a point if that is what the ordinance was. You can’t have an open fire on the beach, can’t bring glass to the pool, no alcohol at most state parks… Doesn’t matter how nice the day was or people involved. Unfortunately a lot of charcoal grillers maybe dumping their grilles in the grass. Non enforced ordinance sounds exactly like the kinda of thing California would do. Only puts the general public at odds with itself. Sounds like they need to figure what the ground rules are before we go all racist. Besides she looks Hispanic and probably has a screw loose if she did not just report them and move on.
She was a White woman from the neighborhood that we found out later that there were White neighbors by the lake that didn’t want Black people hanging out at the lake.
So was bbq’ing with charcoal allowed in that section of the park or not?
People are reading too much into this. She’s not mentally ill, she’s just plain racist and seen how she didn’t like the taste of her own medicine she wanted sympathy from the police.
Racism is a mental illness
Racist and Mental Health Problems
This woman appears to have a mental problem. Horrible that it manifested itself in the area of race. As we are (or should be) revisiting the idea that, “all men are created equal” and working to make it a reality, I am sad that one sick woman ruined a lovely Sunday morning for other Americans. And, I am sorry that anyone tries to demean anyone else with ignorant name calling.
Did you get yo card back???? That’s all that keeps bugging me after knowing everything was taken care of…
No, but the police officer took it. It was the man’s business card, she took it to report him or try and get him fired. Here is a follow-up video: https://youtu.be/COlsbNNZsTM
Michelle, did the police let the men keep grilling in that area?