Woman arrested after allegedly leaving racist note on new neighbor's door: 'This is a white neighborhood'
An Indiana woman was arrested after she allegedly toilet-papered her new neighbors’ home and left a hate-filled racist note on their door, according to the Kokomo Tribune.
Debra Cantwell, 63, of Greentown, Ind., was taken into custody on Thursday after a man reported her to the Howard County Police, saying he found a racist note on the door of his family’s new home, which they had yet to move into. The letter was directed towards the couple’s child, who is biracial. The father assumed the note was Cantwell’s work because she had expressed concern about the family to the previous owner.
“No N****** wanted in this neighborhood – THIS IS A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD,” the note began.
Cantwell is now facing misdemeanor charges of intimidation and criminal mischief after admitting to deputies on Oct. 18 that she wrote the letter and toilet-papered the family’s yard. The Tribune reported that she was also hit with a protection order on Friday that states “stalking has occurred” and prohibits her from contacting the new neighbors.
According to the arrest affidavit, Cantwell told authorities, “I mean, blacks get away with it every time.” She added about the toilet-papering: “Just rage — I was trying to vent.” She went on to say, “I was just trying to let them know that they weren’t really … welcome as far as us. I just needed to let off some steam.”
Cantwell declined to apologize fully, but did say she intends to seek counseling, the Tribune reported.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family moving in to pay legal fees and to install a fence and a security system at their new home. Part of the post, written by the mother, reads: “How do I tell my child that this was done? What words do I say to let him know it is not ok and this doesn’t represent this town, where everyone that meets him likes him?”
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