A single mom has hit headlines after she has shared the story of her neighbors’ unacceptable harassment with the public.
Jennifer McLeggan, a mother living in Long Island, said she is “living in fear” after becoming the subject of ongoing racist harassment and threats from her neighbors.
As a registered nurse, Jennifer lives with her baby in her home on Sapir St. in Valley Stream. She told
Eyewitness News ABC7NY that she had tried everything to be a good neighbor, but the intimidation and harassment from a man who lives next door just keeps getting more intense.
The situation was escalated to the point where Jennifer had to install video cameras around her home, which recorded feces thrown into her garden, men walking with guns, people spitting in her yard, and men wearing face coverings in the middle of the night.
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Jennifer refused to let the racist taunts drive her away from her home. Instead, she bravely wrote a large note and stuck it to her front door. The note reads:
“Hello, my name is Jennifer and I am a single mom and Registered Nurse.
“My neighbors have been racially harassing me since I purchased my home. I took video footage to court and won a $5,000 judgement from my videos. They have thrown human feces on my property and it was recorded. They are now planting dead squirrels on my property and have told me to go back to where I come from.
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“They have my friends come spit on my property and it was recorded. A blow torch was taken to my home at 3am. They have said that I can be “erased”. Their friends also threatened to get rid of me and my cameras. They walk around the back with guns and it was recorded. The police have said, I need to be harmed for them to make an arrest. I live in FEAR for my life at home.”
She ended the note by informing neighbors that they would hear prayers coming from her home, along with an apology for the noise.
A tearful Jennifer shared her situation with ABC7NY, explaining that she put up the sign in case something happened to her; if she died, then at least somebody would know that she was inside her home with a baby.
Jennifer moved into her home three years ago. She says that her suburban dream rapidly became a nightmare when her white neighbors started to harass her over her yard.
Trying to be a good neighbor, Jennifer admits to spending “about $6,000” to cut down trees and improve the state of her yard and mowing the lawn herself. But the harassment just continued to get worse and worse.
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Feces were thrown onto Jennifer’s yard, followed by a dead squirrel. Jennifer says she had spoken to the previous owner, who had been ran out of the neighborhood because she was also on the receiving end of the neighbor’s harassment, and she “just couldn’t take it anymore”.
Jennifer’s neighbor is currently being investigated by members of the local council, and there’s plenty of video footage for them to look through. In the meantime, Jenifer’s other neighbors have rallied to show their support for her, vowing that she won’t be driven out of her home.
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As Jennifer’s story has taken off, she has received support from strangers all across New York, who have joined forces to support her in her fight for respect from her neighbor.
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US News reported that Nassau County Executive Laura Curran shared a statement in which she said:
“Nassau County will not tolerate any resident being harassed or intimidated because of who they are or what they look like. We take these allegations seriously, and Nassau County PD is conducting a thorough investigation into the matter.”
You can learn more about Jennifer’s story by visiting her Instagram account, @standwithjennifer, or watching the video below.
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