New Neighbors Hold Black Man,Family At Gunpoint

[Ecumenist]

Source: Newser

The Kalonji family got a nasty surprise when it tried to change the locks on its newly-purchased Georgia home last week: Their new neighbors threatened them with guns, called the police, and had them arrested, WSBTV reports.
Snippity-snip

Read more: http://www.newser.com/story/144552/new-neighbors-hold-black-man-family-at-gunpoint.html


And "SOME " wonder how Trayvon could be MURDERED walking home to his Dad's home , while minding his own business...Something like this, (not as severe), happened to me and my family when we were moving into our NEW home in Sacramento in 1982. The Police were called, came out and ended up telling the old woman to mind her own business.

People of color of often pulled over by police in their own neighborhoods when the community is deemed to be "TOO NICE" for brown skins to live there.

[annabanana]

1. The charges have been dropped. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014104988

[Uncle Joe]

4. That's good but it's only one aspect of the damage, I do hope the neighbors apologize

and attempt to make some friendly amends.

[Enrique]

11. are they not merciful? n/t

[vaberella]

36. The damage has been done. The neighbors need to be sued. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Ecunenmist.

[hlthe2b]

3. well, that ought to make for some fun neighborhood relations....

Heavens. I guess we should be grateful they managed not to shoot them.

[NOLALady]

5. Ya think

that Mr. Kalonji was wearing a hoodie?

Or maybe its the hip hop life style of inner city youth that made the good neighbors naturally suspect that the Kalonjis were breaking and entering.

When will it end?

[magical thyme]

6. I remember when I was a kid

and people were welcomed into neighborhoods with the "Welcome Wagon."

My, haven't we come a long way baby?!

[vaberella]

37. They had the Welcome Wagon for Blacks? What a nice neighborhood. n/T

[magical thyme]

39. well, come to think of it I think the 'welcome wagon' was a package of discount coupons

and stuff that either came in the mail or they just dropped off or hung on your doorknob, so they didn't know the skin color of the recipients.

But it was a new suburban neighborhood cut out of farmland, too far out to actually have people driving around welcoming you.

And yes, it was mostly if not all white, but there was prejudice of a different sort there. You had to be white enough to be in. Ethnics weren't necessarily welcome there, so my we had our mailbox routinely blown up by cherry bombs and we were pretty snubbed by a lot of the neighbors.

And you had to be married, so I was instructed not to befriend or even talk to the girl who's mother was divorced.

[upaloopa]

7. So you pull a gun on an innocent person and you get to keep you gun?

There needs to be some consequence to playing vigilantly with a loaded weapon. You should lose you right to own a gun!

I really have no sympathy with this kind of gun nuttery shit! Maybe if the gun nuts felt a little heat they'd think before running around like a bunch of crazy lunatics scaring the hell out of people.

[uponit7771]

9. +1

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. They have plenty of defenders...

....here. Count on it.

[Ecumenist]

27. Amen. Upaloopa and welcome to DU

Right glad tameetcha and looking forward to reading many more of your insightful posts!

[Kaleva]

40. Neighbors had to turn their guns in to the police.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. We're becoming a third-world country.

Inch by inch........

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Proving once again that half of all Americans are totally insane with fear.

[Ezlivin]

13. KKK HOA

That white purity clause in the Home Owner's Association Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions is in really fine print.

[struggle4progress]

14. Some folks drop by the new neighbors with cookies; others

come with guns and the sheriff

I do hope there's a nice false arrest settlement here

[struggle4progress]

18. Charges Dropped Against New Homeowners

April 23, 2012 3:22 PM

ATLANTA (WAOK) – ... Police say they will continue to investigate the incident.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/04/23/charges-dropped-against-new-homeowners/

[Ecumenist]

28. Gee, that's mighty nice of them! Ain't that neighborly of them?

[lpbk2713]

15. Good thing they weren't armed with Skittles and iced tea.

They would be on a slab in the morgue by now.

[one_voice]

16. Wow...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

So now we're bringing guns and not pies to our new neighbors.

[Ecumenist]

29. Black folks have had "Welcome Wagons" in certain neighborhoods that looked alot this one.

Many were so welcoming that they would offer MORE THAN THE PURCHASE PRICE for them to move out of the neighborhood. Yeah, good times, good times!

[tapermaker]

17. Imagine if mrs .kalonji a white woman

had pulled a gun out from under her blouse and blew the niehbor and his son away . seeing how she is white i think she would get off on stand your ground . What a fucked up way to live . I am 53 yrs old and havnt even picked up a gun till recently since leaving the marines in 1981.Here in oregon we dont expect everyone and their mother to be packing ,and i like it that way.

[Ecumenist]

23. Would you blame her, Tapermaker? I know I would be much more likely to and I tell you what-

I would seriously look into suing the neighbors that put me through this, trust you me! I'm in northern California and I'm so glad that we haven't gotten to this point but black folks here in Sacramento have dealt with this mindset. I know I have.

[HiPointDem]

35. the best outcome would be for the neighbors to come over and apologize. it would sure make

life easier for all concerned. whereas suing them might guarantee years of misery.

if it happened to me, i wouldn't want to live in that neighborhood unless someone *did* come over and apologize.

we are lucky to have had two great neighbors for years. but one died and it's a crapshoot in this neighborhood. we had a succession of crackheads before these people.

[HiPointDem]

34. i guess the neighbors were on her property threatening her so i think she had a case to shoot them.

[fascisthunter]

19. We watched Fox News, FREEZE!!!!

[drm604]

20. That had to be terrifying.

You move into a new neighborhood and your new neighbors immediately pull guns on you and have you arrested. I'm trying to imagine what that must be like.

Then, after all of that, they have to live next to people who would treat them like that.

Are the neighbors going to face any charges for threatening them with guns?

Are we now required to show papers on demand to the police to avoid arrest?

[4 t 4]

22. Welcome to America

fucking guns!!

[ThoughtCriminal]

24. Another 2nd Amendment Solution...

...to something.

Now, if the Kalonji family had been armed and "stood their ground", I wonder how the headlines would have gone.

[Kaleva]

25. Neighbors facing possible charges

"On Monday, Canoles and his son were summoned for another interview with Newton County officials, who told them to bring in their guns.

"I don't know what they can charge me with," Canoles said late Monday afternoon, before the interview with authorities. "This is my Second Amendment right. Look, this is the county out here, and we protect our own.""

http://www.ajc.com/news/newton-county-may-charge-1424231.html

Dumbass. The 2nd Amendment doesn't give anyone the right to enter property they don't own and threaten to shoot the people they find there. Glad he lost his guns for the time being at least.

Edit: I'm probably what many here would consider to be a "gun nut" but I have no sympathy for the guy and his son. Hopefully he gets his ass sued off, gets charged and loses his right to own guns for many, many years.

[Ecumenist]

30. My husband is a "gun nut" who doesn't believe that the 2nd ammendment covers shooting at innocent

people, accosting folks; to maniacs, mentally ill and criminally insane owning anything from a handgun to a howitzer! He despises what the NRA has turned into. He was OUTRAGED by this story and was particularly incensed that these inbreds actually thought that the 2nd amendment gave them the right to committ this ASSAULT?! WOW, JUST WOW!

[Kaleva]

31. I've read comments in other forums defending the neighbors actions.

In their view, they had every right to defend their neighborhood even if they didn't own the property in question.

However, if one goes vigilante, one could end up like Zimmerman and kill an innocent or they could come face to face with a real bad ass who'd kill them without hesitation.

[Prometheus Bound]

33. I wonder what he meant by "we protect our own".

[noiretextatique]

26. if only they'd be nicer, and politely explained their situation

to random gun-toting asshole racists maybe they should have asked their neighbors permission to change the locks on their own damn house.

[Number23]

32. Makes me want to scream. And never stop.

So sick of this INSANE sh*t.

[Phentex]

38. UPDATE: The neighbors have now been charged!...

Newton County neighbors charged after home buyers' arrests...

A Newton County man and his son who authorities said held a gun on the new owners of a neighboring home were arrested Monday night and charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespass.

Porterdale resident Robert Canoles said he has no second thoughts about interrupting what he thought was a robbery in progress Thursday night at his neighbor's house -- though he is now facing criminal charges just days after deputies lauded his armed response.

Canoles said he and his teenage son heard noises from the once-foreclosed home next door, vacant for seven months. They grabbed their AR-15s and snuck up behind a man and woman fiddling with the front door lock.

read the rest at the ajc


http://www.ajc.com/news/newton-county-neighbors-charged-1424231.html

[pinboy3niner]

41. It is heartening to see that there is a possibility of justice here

After the damage that has been done...

Meanwhile, his neighbors are having second thoughts about moving into their new home, which Bruno Kalonji called a dream come true. He plans to build a soccer field on his land while his agrarian parents, who will share the home with their daughter-in-law and grandson, look forward to raising chickens on the bucolic spread.

"We're waiting to move," Bruno Kalonji said. "We're still afraid of what the guy next door might do."

[Ecumenist]

42. GOOD!! What they did was OFF.THE CHAIN!! Maybe if this starts happening more often,

certain types won't be so quick to pull guns on other folks.

[ellisonz]

43. Good.