Black Garner NC Woman Charged After White Neighbor Complains She Was Playing Malcolm X Speeches Too Loudly
Garner, NC – A black Garner woman had her electronics seized in a home raid by Garner Police Department officials after her white neighbor complained that she was listening to Malcolm X speeches too loudly. According to The Indy, the incident occurred Thursday night (May 16) at 10 pm. Originally, Mikisa Thompson’s children captured the ambush on camera, but video of the incident has since been removed.
“The raid was officially insane and based on an unconstitutional statute,” Thompson’s attorney, T. Greg Doucette said to The Indy. “Doing a midnight raid with nine officers—over a noise ordinance, of all things—is a disproportionate show of force that shows there’s something else at play. That’s the type of overkill that’s intentionally designed to terrorize and punish people, not to actually do what’s necessary for enforcing the case.”
The news outlet reports that a minimum of six officers remained outside while other blocked traffic on the street. After reading her a search warrant, they nabbed a MacBook, an HP laptop, a computer monitor, seven iPhones, computer speakers, an alarm clock, and charging cables.
Law enforcement also charged Thompson with a class-three misdemeanor of violating her city’s noise code, which results in a maximum $500 penalty.
Per Law & Crime, the grievance was filed by Thompson’s 65-year-old neighbor Don Barnette, who complained to authorities that she was playing “amplified speech being projected by some sound amplification device.” Barnette presented authorities footage of when Thompson was allegedly blasting the speeches, with time stamps of 12:46 pm, 12:49 pm, and 1:22 pm.
“There was no provocation or warning,” Thompson told The Indy. “They were watching the house all day. Garner PD wants to kill me.”
The incident comes just three weeks after Garner police seized Thompson’s property after a previous complaint from Barnette. On April 22, he dialed 911 to gripe that his neighbor was playing “loud Islamic-Muslim preaching” in her backyard as she tidied up the patio. That time, officers took a stereo and issued Thompson a $50 fine.
Last week’s return visit by police was apparently triggered by Barnette’s complaint that Thompson had continued to play “amplified speech being projected [by] some sound amplification device,” a search warrant stated. One officer noted he could hear the noise from Barnette’s property line.
“Our officers did everything that they could at the time to try and bring a peaceful conclusion to this issue before seizing the speaker,” Garner police Cpt. Joe Binns told IndyWeek. “First, we warned Ms. Thompson and asked her to turn it down. When she refused and received a second complaint, we issued her a citation for violation of the ordinance.
Under the city’s noise ordinance, the “playing of any radio, phonograph, television set, record player, sound reproduction device or any musical instrument in such a manner or with such volume during the hours between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of persons in any dwelling house, apartment or other type of residence” is strictly forbidden.
However, none of Thompson’s alleged violations occurred during this time frame, IndyWeek reported. Also, the vague wording of the ordinance allows officers full discretion over whether someone is in violation of the ordinance or not.
Jessica Turner, a field manager for the ACLU of North Carolina, said the case is the latest example in a “disturbing” trend of Black people having the cops called on them for innocuous reasons, like sleeping in a common room at Yale University or waiting for a friend at Starbucks.
“It’s quite literally life and death for people of color when the police are called on them,” Turner said.
Barnette insists he’s not racist. He claims that he just interpreted the Malcolm X speech Thompson was playing as an “Islamic Jihadist-type message.”
“I don’t have anything against any Black person that acts like they’ve got sense,” he told The Indy.
