A black woman said her family is being harassed for over a year by their neighbor who plays recordings of monkey noises and racial slurs whenever they step outside their home in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Jannique Martinez told CNN there are multiple cameras on her neighbor’s home, which he uses to monitor residents in the neighborhood cul-de-sac and uses blinking lights and loud music to harass them.
“We noticed a little erratic behavior like these blinking lights that are on a sensor. When my family or any other family leaves or returns to their homes, they all start to blink,” Martinez said “When the sensors are activated, loud music begins to play. He switches the music based on the family that is activating the music.”
When she called the police to complain the neighbor’s behavior escalated to the point where he started playing recordings of monkey sounds and “since that day he’s been playing N—– skits that he found online,” Martinez told CNN.
Not even the children are spared as her neighbor plays the recordings while her 7-year-old son is outside.
‘It’s so racist and it’s disgusting,” Martinez said, WAVY TV reported.
Martinez tried to reach out to authorities, the magistrate’s office, and even civil court but they couldn’t offer much help.
In a statement on Wednesday the Virginia Beach Police Department said authorities determined that the neighbor’s actions so far did not “rise to a level that Virginia law defines as criminal behavior.” Therefore, police “has no authority to intervene.”
“He finds ways to stay under the law. He can’t be wrong in the eyes of the law. He doesn’t care about the morals,” Martinez said. “It feels hopeless and sad. I’m so drained,” she added.
