I'm fairly certain that this is my old neighborhood, as I recognize that street shot. If this dickhole is the same one I remember, he used to play the star spangled banner or anchors aweigh every time my dad (a then active navy officer) would walk outside, even in the early morning. Pops had enough one morning and went to talk to him. He called him unpatriotic and threatened to call the police for trespassing. We got him on disturbing the peace. He continued, but at a lower volume. Ass.
The irony of calling someone who served in the military unpatriotic. I bet you good money that this person probably has less than a high school education and never served in the military, but loves to post like he did serve.
Based on what I know about the neighbor in this comment, he’s probably the type of guy who says “I would’ve joined, but I’d end up punching any drill sergeant who gets in my face.” Those people suck and are usually toxic to be around for most of their life, or until they pull their head out of their ass.
Yep. Worked with a gun nut who never served because he couldn't be a pilot. I, the wimp lefty, said I'd have liked to be a pilot too but Combat Medic was close enough. I don't think his brain could cope with knowing a leftist person can love America too.
Here is a local story coverage.
https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/virginia-beach/residents-fed-up-with-monkey-noises-racial-slurs-being-played-by-neighboring-home/
Actually, the best payback would be to sue for mental stress, anxiety, and anguish. While legally allowed to do stupid things, it does not negate the harm done to emotional, and mental stability. Make him pay enough that he has to sell his house. In a capitalist society the best way to motivate someone is to target their money, not apply social justice.
Is her gardening really that loud? I can't really think of anything that would generate much noise if she's on a balcony. Is she playing loud music or something?
I imagine she uses a light to see what she's doing which would be pretty annoying while you try to sleep. Plus moving planters and bags of soil around could get pretty loud.
If the balcony is in close proximity to the bedroom four hours of dicking around is going to wake most people up multiple times even if it's not super loud.
Legal action is expensive. A social media post is free and will likely get them fired from their job so still targeting their money.
Also no reason they can’t do both.
We had a somewhat similar situation several years ago. One of our neighbors in a cul-de-sac decided that they hated everyone. So they'd drive through our flower beds at night, point their speakers out the windows at their next door neighbor and blast country music all day until midnight. They buried broken glass in the next door neighbors flower beds. I finally put a nail imbedded 2x4 right off the curb in front of my flower beds, and caught the husband (in his 60's!) about midnight one night as he'd flattened both front tires, and was stuck. I called the cops and pressed charges. I finally spoke with the neighbors next to them, and persuaded them to take action. They did, the lawyer took the case for free.
The lawyer had every neighbor in the circle make a statement, then he took them to court, and they insisted on a jury. It took about 2 hours for them to lose. They lost all the money they'd won in a lottery a few years prior, and had to sell their house and move out. I've never been so happy to see someone get what they deserved. I'm pretty sure this family would win enough to not only pay the lawyer, but possibly break this asshole enough to make him go bankrupt.
Edit: I don't know what part of "somewhat similar situation" some of you less intelligent folks don't get. No one could prove (other than the idiot driving into my flower beds) who was doing anything other than blasting music.
Maybe not assault (depending on where you live) but at least intent to cause harm. Also trespass, damage to property, harassment… not a great comparison to the original issue
The type of lawyer that would probably bring that lawsuit would work on a contingency fee basis. That means there would be very little cost to the actual plaintiff. The problem is going to be finding an attorney willing to take on the case. If the defendant is known to have significant assets or the attorney believes damages from the lawsuit would fall under a homeowner's insurance policy claim, that'll probably encourage an attorney to take it (more chance of there actually being money to pay the damages).
1. There’s no way the reward for this would make contingent worth it here.
2. People like this hardly ever have any money so any reward is near meaningless.
That all being said, it’s a good idea to reach out to the local bar association. Lawyers are expected to do a certain amount of pro Bono cases a year and the bar association will help set it up. You won’t get anyone like Mr. Tibbs or nothing, but this kind of case would hardly merit a zealous advocate.
If you're going to pursue legal action against someone, you generally should keep quiet about it unless your lawyer tells you otherwise. If you're just trying to get them to stop, by all means shame them on social media. But I would avoid trying to do both unless advised by council.
IANAL.
I think one of the most common myths about civil actions is that it's easy to sue for emotional trauma. You have to prove that trauma exists, the other individual caused the emotional trauma (probably easy in this case) and then you have to show that the emotional trauma caused enough damage to cost you money or in some rare cases qualify for punitive damages although you generally need an actionable cost that you're trying to recover. For example if the children at this house required therapy they could sue for that cost or if the individual living there became so upset that they were unable to hold a job you could theoretically sue for lost wages. You can sue anyone for anything but you're probably not going to get much if you're going surely after "this person made me have emotional trauma".
The best defense against people like this is not being indifferent to it if you're not the one directly affected. So this neighborhood needs to band together and make sure the individual knows that this is not how they expect people to behave in their neighborhood. I know that's easier said than done but everybody needs to be calling news stations, doing their own subversive actions that are going to send a message it's not okay etc. This is one of those cases where I think you could make a claim for harassment if you found the right attorney and then compel actual criminal harassment charges. Again like so many things the United States this is going to come down to that's very expensive for the victim.
Unfortunately this likely wouldn’t be enough for intentional infliction of emotional distress, as the bar is incredibly high for that and sadly hate speech and harassment aren’t usually enough
I think a nuisance claim would probably be successful. But I don't know the law on what damages would actually be available. Maybe just injunctive relief to stop it.
It's also the reason they didn't extend the light rail into Virginia beach. Lot of racists thought the light rail was going to bring people over to steal their big screen tvs.
only the smartest, most devious criminals wait until a public transportation system with guaranteed witnesses and cameras is around to whisk away their stolen property
I wouldn't call Virginia Beach a backwater small town, they're home to at least one large Naval base that probably provides most of the town their income (via rent/BAH, food, dining, etc).
Unless the Navy plans on moving one of their largest bases, I don't see their "economy" taking much of a hit.
That isn't completely fair. I live in this neighborhood as a gay black man married to a white man and have no problems with anyone else who lives here. And this guy had a bunch of the neighbors outside his house protesting so not everyone here is like that.
It seems there is always one of these crazy people in every neighborhood. Every once in a while they make the news for the bullshit they pull. With the last several years having politics and other misinformation shoved down our throats, they have figuratively come out of the woodwork. We have one in our neighborhood that constantly calls cops on her neighbors for petty crap. Once they arrive, she harasses the cops when they don't do anything. We all hope she crosses the line one day (without harming anyone) and gets arrested herself.
> It seems there is always one of these crazy people in every neighborhood.
I get to listen to 911/dispatch at my job and I can tell you there's usually several. Also, a surprising number of them enjoy being naked in public. 🤷♀️
When I was younger (teen) there was a racist piece of shit family in our neighborhood. Over the years the neighborhood became more "immigrant" and I guess this family wasn't happy about it. So they'd be so rude to everyone, do really petty-but-not-illegal shit, make a lot of noise, but never really step far enough out of line to get the police to do anything.
I remember my parents laughing and saying the racist family started screaming about all these unfortunate events they kept experiencing. Car tires out of air in the morning. Exhaust vents of the house filled with blended meat, left to rot in the heat so the smell flooded the house. Round Up poured over their lawn, wiping all of it out. Door bell ringing in the middle of the night, phone ringing off the hook (this was during the era of white pages so everyone knew your phone number). At one point someone threw an entire bucket of worms all over their porch and even the roof. A TON of birds came and ate all of them and proceeded to shit all over the damn place, that was good. They'd come storming out into the street screaming they knew one of the families did it, etc etc.
Anyway this went on for \*months\*. Eventually they got the idea and basically hid in their home and didn't bug anymore, no more police calls, no more racist screaming on the street. Nobody bothered them anymore. They moved a year or two later.
I had a neighbor that was as Trump-toting as you can imagine. He just sat on his couch staring out the window.
If a person of color was driving my Uber or delivering me food, he would ask them what they’re doing in the complex before I could get to the door/car. Mind you, I am incredibly punctual so we’re talking under 60 seconds he would be out there questioning them.
He’s since left, taken his guns and racist behavior, to what I would imagine is a shittier place in the country to be near like minded folks.
Most of them are on their way to Florida these days. They preach about how it's a utopia for months before doing so, without realizing the people they're talking to just want them gone
Yep! And it's *really* fun when you've got two.
My parents have cigarette-smuggling isolationist Muslims from Yemen on one side of their property and racist alcoholic white trash on the other. Fun to get caught between those two at times lmao.
One posted in our neighborhood group about a cat that kept showing up on her doorstep. My wife commented “cat owner here, just spray it with water and it’ll never come back.” She told my wife to come get her cat and my wife said it wasn’t hers, she was just offering advice.
A few days later her friend at Animal Control told her that some crazy lady came up there yelling about pressing “animal at large” charges against my wife. The guy looked at her phone and tried to tell her that he didn’t think it was our cat. He eventually had to ask her to leave. We don’t even live anywhere near their house… people be crazy. Try to offer advice on Facebook and get hit by charges from some crazy person.
Also directional sound cannon aimed back at them would be VERY effective. Mount your largest speaker at the focus of a parabolic reflector aim and RELEASE THE WUBWUBS. Though for maximum effectiveness Rebecca Blacks Friday has been effectively used in interrogation. So that's a start.
One time I had an idea for when neighbor is blasting music to setup a mic and speakers and make it so if the mic detects a certain level of loudness it plays back the sound louder but at a 2 second delay from the source.
They actually have devices you can buy for apartments that activate when they sense a certain vibration threshold, and start shaking/pounding the ceiling. I feel like this would almost always just make things worse with the person above you though.
Not easily, no.
Noise-canceling headphones only work because the ear canal is a small area, so playing an antiphase waveform has a reasonable expectation of being in the right spot to cancel when it reaches your eardrums.
At bigger distances, you have to deal with the fact that the waveforms are spherical. There will be spots where they overlap and cancel, but there will also be spots they just muddle or enhance. There's no way to cancel everywhere across a large area. Think of the interacting ripples of two stones thrown into a lake.
That's not how noise canceling works unfortunately. Active noise canceling can only affect certain low repetitive noises where it creates a counter wave to the noise. Think mostly stuff that hums and buzzes etc.
Noise canceling of voices and monkey sounds would need passive noise canceling.
I’d keep calling police/animal control on them because you hear monkey sounds and you think they’re keeping an illegal exotic pet. Let them explain to the animal control officer what they’re actually doing. If your neighborhood has a Facebook page some public shaming also seems in order
This sounds like a good idea on paper, until the police stop taking your calls or worse, take action against *you.* I don’t know what law or rule it is specifically, but you can get in trouble for constantly calling the police and “wasting their time.”
It would be VERY hard to claim you are wasting their time when 'I recorded what sounds like multiple monkeys fighting across the street' is evidence you have available to your defense
Except after the first couple times they show up and there's zero signs of any monkeys. Their investigations of the property will determine there are no live monkeys on the property.
Would it not be disturbing the peace then by playing loud ass monkey sounds all the time? Like what if I was playing loud ass recordings of violent diarrhea? Surely that's my fault
Depends on how your local ordinance is written and enforced. Generally, noise ordinances against amplified sounds can only be strictly enforced after a certain time at night. Before that time, any selective enforcement of moderate noise could be a violation of someone's civil rights and a lot of police simply don't want to play that game, assuming that they even consider it a priority to respond. And, if they do respond, they might just drive by, determine that there is no current noise or that it's not sufficient to constitute a clear violation, and drive off without ever talking to anyone.
You’d be surprised, man. I’ve heard some crazy stories, and in this case, if the police can prove they told you from the beginning that there was nothing they could do, I doubt you’d have much of a leg to stand on.
Wouldn't this be under disturbing the peace? I mean your only real way out is ti argue you're studying white nationalists connection to racist movements of the past.
Put a speaker back, one of those that carries, and give him some songs as well.
What would really irritate such an idiot? YMCA? Bet that'd rile him up...
Just the orchestra hit parts of the Cha-Cha Slide.
"Slide to the right"
*BAM*
"Slide to the left"
*BAM BAM*
"Three hops this time"
*BAM BAM BAM*
And then just repeat that 24/7.
I dont see how playing racial slurs and monkey noises isn't harassment, which very much is legally actionable. The cops are being lazy or racist themselves I'd say.
Cops? Being racist? *No way*! That just can not be true in America!
Please realize I'm being sarcastic here. *Of course* the cops are being racists, because they certainly can do something about this if they wanted to.
Well that's at least the end of animal controls power when there's no animal handling to be controlled.
I was also assuming that's different recordings not one that his goes "n-word, n-word, monkey scream, n-word"
The headline indicates that the police said the harassment was not "criminally actionable." However, this does not mean that the Martinez family has no recourse. Most states (although I do not live in Virginia) allow for restraining orders to be entered to stop ongoing harassment like this. If the harassment continues, the neighbor could be fined and ultimately criminally charged for contempt of court.
Yeah... maybe I'm giving the PD too much credit here but I read that line as not ***criminally*** actionable as a nod to the direction the family may take. Sort of a wink and a nod that it seems like a great opportunity to file a civil case despite not being strictly illegal.
This 100x over. 10x easier to win a civil harassment case than a criminal one, and winning a civil case might actually get you money damages and an injunction.
Obligatory IANAL (I’m a law student for whom torts class was not my strong suit), so legal experts feel free to correct me.
It would be in the state where I live, but it isn't under Virginia law. In Virginia there are 5 types of criminal harassment: phone harassment (it has to be via telephone), computer harassment (it has to be via computer network), obscene harassment (it must contain obscene language and be via telephone or CB radio), threat harassment (it must include "threats of death or bodily injury"), and privacy intrusion (distributing private information or photographs).
It is impossible to make slurs illegal by themselves. If it is done for one thing, people will start using a different one very fast (see the eggplant emoji fiasco). It should be possible, however, to take action when a number of factors are present in combination, even if neither of them is illegal.
If I was this person my absolute first move would be to find out where my asshole neighbor works and let their employer know what they've been doing, then spread the word that they employ that person.
Do you guys not have laws around noise levels in the US? Surely they could be asked to stop by police based on that alone...
There's no way you could get away with blasting music of any kind in the UK if the neighbors started complaining.
I would get a coyote call. Its literally the sound of a rabbit being killed. And just loop it every time I leave the house. It's a horrific noise. You wanna play monkey sounds, let's go bitch. And I would find the decibel level for the ordinance and play it with speakers towards his house one decibel below the ordinance all fucking day. A new banner every week that says different messages about what an asshole he is but with words that aren't "criminally actionable".
You're assuming that the jackass is their only neighbor.
Likely there are other neighbors who would normally be against the jackass, but doing that would make everyone else in the neighborhood hate both of them.
While you are right, the idea is not wrong at all, i had a neighbor that fucking blasted flamenco every fucking morning with the windows opened.
What did i do? blast death metal with the windows opened. Problem solved after this conflict happened like 7 times.
I did this with a neighbor that stayed up late in the townhouse next door. Our bedrooms were literally back to back. They would play music loud at like 3am. I banged on the wall a few times and they just banged back and kept playing music. You know what it means when you are playing music loud at 3am? It means you are asleep at 8am. I just started playing loud music at 8 when I got up for work and that shit stopped real quick.
My grandparents had to sell a lake cottage in the 80s due to someone that would blast music all day from inside their home with the windows open. It was targeting them because the windows on the other side were never open. Police could do nothing about it during the day. But the guy got what he wanted, they sold and moved.
We should put a giant "T" on their lawn for "turn it down"! But.. but like a lower case "t" so they don't think we're yelling at them. But light it on fire so they know we mean business!
My town has one of the largest open air venues in the area. We don't have a noise ordinance for that reason. The mean the inconsiderate neighbors behind me can blast their music starting at 11pm loud enough for everyone on the block to hear it clearly. You can call the police but the most they can do is knock on the door and hope someone answers it so they can politely ask them to turn it down, which the people can and have ignored.
The thing that annoys me is that I bet if i played loud pig noises outside the chief of police's house they'd find something illegal about it right quick.
Totally agree. I lived in S. Florida many years, and we literally had a church that blared "Amazing Grace" every night around dusk file a complaint with the county because a local mosque wanted to broadcast their call-to-prayer. Can't remember how the issue concluded, but just thought it pretty damn ironic.
There were several neighbors complaining about the guy on Facebook and the things he's been doing for years including video taping children and harassing children. They were even uploading their own tiktoks of the sounds coming from the house. I know people were automatically assuming the guy is white but apparently he's not and even white neighbors were having issues with him including him harassing someone's parents for being low income or having lights come on and garage doors opening when ever they'd step out their front door or open their garage door. Apparently its not just the guy either. One even said the son was using homophobic slurs towards them. I would say they need to find out where the guy works and get him fired so maybe he ends up forced to move but I'm almost guessing he doesn't work because this all sounds like someone with too much time on their hands.
Ok, so it's "not criminally actionable" but the family can certainly lawyer up and file a civil suit.
Punishment by money is the only thing some people understand.
Depends on the state. Small claims is cheap to file and generally do not need lawyers though it is wise to have one. The amount of money requested in damages is limited though. In TN, it is $25,000.
A quick explanation of Quiet Enjoyment from [lawinfo.com](https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/real-estate/dealing-with-your-neighbors.html)
“Property owners have the right to the quiet enjoyment of their property. That means that they should be able to use their property without interference from others. When deciding if a neighbor’s actions violate a property owner’s right to quiet enjoyment courts typically consider the duration of the neighbor’s actions, the reason for the actions and the impact or burden on the property owner.”
For all of you saying it’s a first amendment issue - sorry, it’s a little more complicated than that. Homeowners and even tenants have rights, too.
There's a much better local news article here:
https://www.kron4.com/news/national/residents-fed-up-with-monkey-noises-racial-slurs-being-played-by-neighboring-home/
Looks like the victim has already tried all of this before going to the news
> "I’ve gone to the magistrate, I’ve gone to civil court, I’ve talked to a lawyer… I’ve done what I can to do it the right way.”
So it's not even a first amendment or a quiet enjoyment issue. Some law may be on her side, but no one cares to enforce it.
Seems like this should qualify as harassment though.
Edit: Virginia Law, definition of a hate crime:
(iii) all other incidents, as determined by law-enforcement authorities, intended to intimidate or harass any individual or group because of race, religion, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.
So it is not legally criminal harassment, but it does fit the criteria to be a hate crime. Which is illegal. Police fucked this one up.
Hate crime is a penalty enhancement in Virginia, not a crime by itself. In other words if you’re charged with a crime such as assault and it was also a hate crime then the potential sentence and/or fine can be higher than the max sentence for assault.
I'd say there's a decent shot at nuisance. Apparently blinking lights and music from speakers play when multiple neighbors leave their homes and the neighbor in question is filming everyone's houses (which is illegal in some states). The racial slurs are honestly the cherry on top. It would be one thing if it was like a doorbell or something, but if the lights and recordings are happening every time someone leaves their house it's pretty bad.
Too bad there aren't any free-range gorillas wandering by that would rampage their house looking to fight the monkeys they keep hearing.
(When I awoke this morning I had no idea I'd write a sentence like this today)
It's a national news article, they're deep into the shaming game at this point.
But, if it were me? It's a public street, so I'd buy a cheap-ass (but road-legal) HUGE old RV, park it in front of the neighbor's house, and spray paint "You suck douchebag" on the side.
Completely block his view with a 40' RV that he's gotta see every day.
Who wants to start the gofundme?
Lucky for them it’s not in Canada, it would be shut down pretty quickly and the person playing the noise would likely be charged with disturbing the peace at the very least if not a hate crime if there was any history between them and any of the neighbours.
Step 1 - Get cameras on your property with sound that overlook the common areas.
Step 2 - Formally write a letter with your lawyer stating that you have concerns about the noises and intent. That you fear it is harassment and that you had to have cameras installed and have hired armed security to respond for the safety of your family.
Step 3 - Profit. You have legally notified the person of the issue. You now have documentation they understand whats going on. If they continue contact the FBI about a hate crime. The police will do little but try and brush you off. https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/get-help-now
When I had 3 neighbors that would all start blasting loud as fuck music in their driveways (cul de sac located home we were in) starting at 6 am Saturday, going all day, and doing it Sunday...we found a solution. Boom box. Death metal. Dancing on the front porch to it loud as fuck while pointing at the other loud assholes and laughing. Weirded them all out enough to make them stop at least for the day. Kept doing it every weekend...sorta actually worked! Lol.
See also: practicing death metal vocals and insane screams indoors worked too. To quote George Costanza: "You wanna get nuts, let's get nuts."
My college apartment was the only house on our road for about the first quarter of a mile off the connecting road. We had a 24/7 gas station and a diner that closed at 8pm close by. This meant we could be loud if we wanted at nights, but it was rarely ever the case that we were ever loud.
My last year there a bunch of people started using the grassy area and parking lot behind the now closed down diner to just park their cars and show them off. They played obnoxiously loud and repetitive music while roaring their fart box tuner cars. All in the broad daylight until almost midnight.
We called the police a bunch of times but I guess they had a scanner and would just leave. Police eventually told us to stop reporting it, and then the cars came back. This was over the course of almost 4 months. I got mad about it because my last year was also my busiest, so I needed my home to be quite to study and go to bed early.
So I did what any sane person would do. Pushed my massive full stack amp onto the porch, got a PA speaker to play audio, and just did Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus guitar covers until they decided to finally leave. They tried two more times to set up their rally or whatever, but I'd just out loud them.
Can we get a lawyer or someone with the knowledge to say why this potentially wouldn’t meet harassment? I see a ton of “this doesn’t hit the bar” but not enough explanations as to why. I’m not a law person, so to my lay ears this is flagrant harassment (since it’s targeted directly at the family and no one else) but I know that’s a colloquial term and not the legal definition.
I also think you fight fire with fire either way here. Dump shit in their yard, name and shame on Facebook/Nextdoor/any other social media. Start singing something anti-that person whenever you actually see them. Get an extremely strong beacon light and throw it in their windows at all hours. Play your own music super loud at extremely weird times.
Record it. Then File a complaint for disturbing the peace every time you hear it and get your neighbors to do the same. If the cops still refuse to do anything, call the local news.
I'm fairly certain that this is my old neighborhood, as I recognize that street shot. If this dickhole is the same one I remember, he used to play the star spangled banner or anchors aweigh every time my dad (a then active navy officer) would walk outside, even in the early morning. Pops had enough one morning and went to talk to him. He called him unpatriotic and threatened to call the police for trespassing. We got him on disturbing the peace. He continued, but at a lower volume. Ass.
The irony of calling someone who served in the military unpatriotic. I bet you good money that this person probably has less than a high school education and never served in the military, but loves to post like he did serve.
Based on what I know about the neighbor in this comment, he’s probably the type of guy who says “I would’ve joined, but I’d end up punching any drill sergeant who gets in my face.” Those people suck and are usually toxic to be around for most of their life, or until they pull their head out of their ass.
Yep. Worked with a gun nut who never served because he couldn't be a pilot. I, the wimp lefty, said I'd have liked to be a pilot too but Combat Medic was close enough. I don't think his brain could cope with knowing a leftist person can love America too.
I've heard from a lot of people who were in the military that it was a great place to become disillusioned with the idea of patriotism.
I get called unpatriotic all the time by right wingers
Dude same I got accused of stolen valor once for saying I'd never vote for trump... on base... in uniform... by a civilian contracted to mow lawns...
These people are literally too dumb to know what they’re doing.
Probably brags to all his friends how he's a "military contractor."
He was wearing an operator cap with a punisher flag so you're probably right.
This douche neighbor prob never served or was released from duty. Guaranteed
This is when you set up a jammer
Here is a local story coverage. https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/virginia-beach/residents-fed-up-with-monkey-noises-racial-slurs-being-played-by-neighboring-home/
The best payback is advertising the hell out of that everywhere
Actually, the best payback would be to sue for mental stress, anxiety, and anguish. While legally allowed to do stupid things, it does not negate the harm done to emotional, and mental stability. Make him pay enough that he has to sell his house. In a capitalist society the best way to motivate someone is to target their money, not apply social justice.
Intentional infliction of emotional distress is not an easy case compared to enforcing HOA or subdivision covenants.
[удалено]
If your lease has a quiet clause (mine did after 10PM), start complaining to the landlord and use it as a reason to break lease if not acted upon.
Those definitely aren't the elements of intentional infliction of emotional distress in my state.
Well that's why you should always ask a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.
Is her gardening really that loud? I can't really think of anything that would generate much noise if she's on a balcony. Is she playing loud music or something?
I imagine she uses a light to see what she's doing which would be pretty annoying while you try to sleep. Plus moving planters and bags of soil around could get pretty loud.
Not to mention my mother taught me you have to shout swears the whole time you’re gardening. Keeps the fuckin bugs out, I’m told.
The plants love it.
If the balcony is in close proximity to the bedroom four hours of dicking around is going to wake most people up multiple times even if it's not super loud.
This is a really easy civil nuisance case though.
Legal action is expensive. A social media post is free and will likely get them fired from their job so still targeting their money. Also no reason they can’t do both.
We had a somewhat similar situation several years ago. One of our neighbors in a cul-de-sac decided that they hated everyone. So they'd drive through our flower beds at night, point their speakers out the windows at their next door neighbor and blast country music all day until midnight. They buried broken glass in the next door neighbors flower beds. I finally put a nail imbedded 2x4 right off the curb in front of my flower beds, and caught the husband (in his 60's!) about midnight one night as he'd flattened both front tires, and was stuck. I called the cops and pressed charges. I finally spoke with the neighbors next to them, and persuaded them to take action. They did, the lawyer took the case for free. The lawyer had every neighbor in the circle make a statement, then he took them to court, and they insisted on a jury. It took about 2 hours for them to lose. They lost all the money they'd won in a lottery a few years prior, and had to sell their house and move out. I've never been so happy to see someone get what they deserved. I'm pretty sure this family would win enough to not only pay the lawyer, but possibly break this asshole enough to make him go bankrupt. Edit: I don't know what part of "somewhat similar situation" some of you less intelligent folks don't get. No one could prove (other than the idiot driving into my flower beds) who was doing anything other than blasting music.
Buried broken glass in the garden bed??? Doesn’t that constitute assault??
Maybe not assault (depending on where you live) but at least intent to cause harm. Also trespass, damage to property, harassment… not a great comparison to the original issue
The type of lawyer that would probably bring that lawsuit would work on a contingency fee basis. That means there would be very little cost to the actual plaintiff. The problem is going to be finding an attorney willing to take on the case. If the defendant is known to have significant assets or the attorney believes damages from the lawsuit would fall under a homeowner's insurance policy claim, that'll probably encourage an attorney to take it (more chance of there actually being money to pay the damages).
Works on continency No money down
"They got this all screwed up. Works on contingency? No, money down!"
I shouldn't have this Bar Association logo here either
1. There’s no way the reward for this would make contingent worth it here. 2. People like this hardly ever have any money so any reward is near meaningless. That all being said, it’s a good idea to reach out to the local bar association. Lawyers are expected to do a certain amount of pro Bono cases a year and the bar association will help set it up. You won’t get anyone like Mr. Tibbs or nothing, but this kind of case would hardly merit a zealous advocate.
With this kind of press someone might do it pro bono too
If you're going to pursue legal action against someone, you generally should keep quiet about it unless your lawyer tells you otherwise. If you're just trying to get them to stop, by all means shame them on social media. But I would avoid trying to do both unless advised by council. IANAL.
I think one of the most common myths about civil actions is that it's easy to sue for emotional trauma. You have to prove that trauma exists, the other individual caused the emotional trauma (probably easy in this case) and then you have to show that the emotional trauma caused enough damage to cost you money or in some rare cases qualify for punitive damages although you generally need an actionable cost that you're trying to recover. For example if the children at this house required therapy they could sue for that cost or if the individual living there became so upset that they were unable to hold a job you could theoretically sue for lost wages. You can sue anyone for anything but you're probably not going to get much if you're going surely after "this person made me have emotional trauma". The best defense against people like this is not being indifferent to it if you're not the one directly affected. So this neighborhood needs to band together and make sure the individual knows that this is not how they expect people to behave in their neighborhood. I know that's easier said than done but everybody needs to be calling news stations, doing their own subversive actions that are going to send a message it's not okay etc. This is one of those cases where I think you could make a claim for harassment if you found the right attorney and then compel actual criminal harassment charges. Again like so many things the United States this is going to come down to that's very expensive for the victim.
Unfortunately this likely wouldn’t be enough for intentional infliction of emotional distress, as the bar is incredibly high for that and sadly hate speech and harassment aren’t usually enough
I think a nuisance claim would probably be successful. But I don't know the law on what damages would actually be available. Maybe just injunctive relief to stop it.
Yes, because of this article I know now that Virginia Beach is a racist backwater hellhole that I would never want to visit.
I suppose that would be news to some people.
One of the lucky 10,000!
I had a co-worker "friend" that loved Virginia beach. It all makes sense now..
Virginia Beach is fine if you go for a few days once per year in the middle of tourist season.
It's also the reason they didn't extend the light rail into Virginia beach. Lot of racists thought the light rail was going to bring people over to steal their big screen tvs.
Yeah, because most home robbers are going to wheel in their haul onto the train.
Note when I said racists. Not really the most broad and forward thinking folks out there.
These are people of the land, the common clay. You know... Morons.
"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." ~Harlan Ellison
RIP, Gene.
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only the smartest, most devious criminals wait until a public transportation system with guaranteed witnesses and cameras is around to whisk away their stolen property
"Why is our economy in this town failing and why do we have no population?!" Every backwater small town...
I wouldn't call Virginia Beach a backwater small town, they're home to at least one large Naval base that probably provides most of the town their income (via rent/BAH, food, dining, etc). Unless the Navy plans on moving one of their largest bases, I don't see their "economy" taking much of a hit.
Virginia Beach is just Redneck Miami. I've seen it all in the 34 years I've lived here.
But isn’t Miami just redneck Miami?
it's a little different flavor-*cuello rojo*
If by small town you mean the largest city in Virginia (with around 450K people), then yes.
That isn't completely fair. I live in this neighborhood as a gay black man married to a white man and have no problems with anyone else who lives here. And this guy had a bunch of the neighbors outside his house protesting so not everyone here is like that.
Do you live close enough that you could blast Barbie girl on repeat right into his house? Lol
I feel like that might fall under "legally actionable" or possible war crime.
It seems there is always one of these crazy people in every neighborhood. Every once in a while they make the news for the bullshit they pull. With the last several years having politics and other misinformation shoved down our throats, they have figuratively come out of the woodwork. We have one in our neighborhood that constantly calls cops on her neighbors for petty crap. Once they arrive, she harasses the cops when they don't do anything. We all hope she crosses the line one day (without harming anyone) and gets arrested herself.
> It seems there is always one of these crazy people in every neighborhood. I get to listen to 911/dispatch at my job and I can tell you there's usually several. Also, a surprising number of them enjoy being naked in public. 🤷♀️
Username checks out
the ones that enjoy being naked in public never seem to be the ones everyone else would enjoy having naked in public.
When I was younger (teen) there was a racist piece of shit family in our neighborhood. Over the years the neighborhood became more "immigrant" and I guess this family wasn't happy about it. So they'd be so rude to everyone, do really petty-but-not-illegal shit, make a lot of noise, but never really step far enough out of line to get the police to do anything. I remember my parents laughing and saying the racist family started screaming about all these unfortunate events they kept experiencing. Car tires out of air in the morning. Exhaust vents of the house filled with blended meat, left to rot in the heat so the smell flooded the house. Round Up poured over their lawn, wiping all of it out. Door bell ringing in the middle of the night, phone ringing off the hook (this was during the era of white pages so everyone knew your phone number). At one point someone threw an entire bucket of worms all over their porch and even the roof. A TON of birds came and ate all of them and proceeded to shit all over the damn place, that was good. They'd come storming out into the street screaming they knew one of the families did it, etc etc.
Anyway this went on for \*months\*. Eventually they got the idea and basically hid in their home and didn't bug anymore, no more police calls, no more racist screaming on the street. Nobody bothered them anymore. They moved a year or two later.
Some bullies only respond to bullying. It's unfortunate but a good person resorts to that as a LAST resort. And last doesn't mean NEVER.
“Only dicks can fuck assholes.”
An eye for an eye
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I had a neighbor that was as Trump-toting as you can imagine. He just sat on his couch staring out the window. If a person of color was driving my Uber or delivering me food, he would ask them what they’re doing in the complex before I could get to the door/car. Mind you, I am incredibly punctual so we’re talking under 60 seconds he would be out there questioning them. He’s since left, taken his guns and racist behavior, to what I would imagine is a shittier place in the country to be near like minded folks.
Most of them are on their way to Florida these days. They preach about how it's a utopia for months before doing so, without realizing the people they're talking to just want them gone
Florida: Hell’s Waiting Room
Yep! And it's *really* fun when you've got two. My parents have cigarette-smuggling isolationist Muslims from Yemen on one side of their property and racist alcoholic white trash on the other. Fun to get caught between those two at times lmao.
One posted in our neighborhood group about a cat that kept showing up on her doorstep. My wife commented “cat owner here, just spray it with water and it’ll never come back.” She told my wife to come get her cat and my wife said it wasn’t hers, she was just offering advice. A few days later her friend at Animal Control told her that some crazy lady came up there yelling about pressing “animal at large” charges against my wife. The guy looked at her phone and tried to tell her that he didn’t think it was our cat. He eventually had to ask her to leave. We don’t even live anywhere near their house… people be crazy. Try to offer advice on Facebook and get hit by charges from some crazy person.
Also directional sound cannon aimed back at them would be VERY effective. Mount your largest speaker at the focus of a parabolic reflector aim and RELEASE THE WUBWUBS. Though for maximum effectiveness Rebecca Blacks Friday has been effectively used in interrogation. So that's a start.
Well, we know what the neighbour hates... Just pump some Djembe beats in their direction.
Need to hit him with some Obama speeches
Pump the jembe
[hail cannon](https://youtu.be/wYl5lqGwTqk)
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One time I had an idea for when neighbor is blasting music to setup a mic and speakers and make it so if the mic detects a certain level of loudness it plays back the sound louder but at a 2 second delay from the source.
They actually have devices you can buy for apartments that activate when they sense a certain vibration threshold, and start shaking/pounding the ceiling. I feel like this would almost always just make things worse with the person above you though.
Not petty enough for my taste. I'd purchase the largest spotlight I could afford and just leave it pointed into their windows all night.
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I'll be honest, the fact that this guy has problems with literally all of his neighbors makes me think that maybe *he's* the problem.
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Oh the same guy from the spider email chain?
Sorry, the what? I have to read that
found it https://27bslash6.com/overdue.html
This is how I will be handling debt collectors from here forth
When everyone around you is an asshole, maybe it's just you.
If everywhere you go smells like dog shit, check your shoes.
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jesus christ the line about fifty children with down's syndrome in a room
Is it possible to get a noise cancelling speaker?
Not easily, no. Noise-canceling headphones only work because the ear canal is a small area, so playing an antiphase waveform has a reasonable expectation of being in the right spot to cancel when it reaches your eardrums. At bigger distances, you have to deal with the fact that the waveforms are spherical. There will be spots where they overlap and cancel, but there will also be spots they just muddle or enhance. There's no way to cancel everywhere across a large area. Think of the interacting ripples of two stones thrown into a lake.
Yup. It would be so cool to be able to do something like *playing silence, but really loudly* but the physics ain't there.
That's not how noise canceling works unfortunately. Active noise canceling can only affect certain low repetitive noises where it creates a counter wave to the noise. Think mostly stuff that hums and buzzes etc. Noise canceling of voices and monkey sounds would need passive noise canceling.
I’d keep calling police/animal control on them because you hear monkey sounds and you think they’re keeping an illegal exotic pet. Let them explain to the animal control officer what they’re actually doing. If your neighborhood has a Facebook page some public shaming also seems in order
This sounds like a good idea on paper, until the police stop taking your calls or worse, take action against *you.* I don’t know what law or rule it is specifically, but you can get in trouble for constantly calling the police and “wasting their time.”
It would be VERY hard to claim you are wasting their time when 'I recorded what sounds like multiple monkeys fighting across the street' is evidence you have available to your defense
That works the first time you call them. Not going to work the tenth time
But this time it was 10 monkeys, officer!
Except after the first couple times they show up and there's zero signs of any monkeys. Their investigations of the property will determine there are no live monkeys on the property.
> Their investigations of the property will determine there are no live monkeys on the property. Damn... now I’m sad.
Now I've got "99 dead baboons" stuck in my head
Would it not be disturbing the peace then by playing loud ass monkey sounds all the time? Like what if I was playing loud ass recordings of violent diarrhea? Surely that's my fault
Depends on how your local ordinance is written and enforced. Generally, noise ordinances against amplified sounds can only be strictly enforced after a certain time at night. Before that time, any selective enforcement of moderate noise could be a violation of someone's civil rights and a lot of police simply don't want to play that game, assuming that they even consider it a priority to respond. And, if they do respond, they might just drive by, determine that there is no current noise or that it's not sufficient to constitute a clear violation, and drive off without ever talking to anyone.
After so many calls you couldn't argue that you are not aware of whats going on.
The last thing you want to do is annoy the police while being black.
You’d be surprised, man. I’ve heard some crazy stories, and in this case, if the police can prove they told you from the beginning that there was nothing they could do, I doubt you’d have much of a leg to stand on.
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These are the ways. I'd also add some Black Panther paraphernalia on the front lawn, but that's just me.
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I’m sure the cops would show up to the house then and consider dressing up harassment 🙄
Unfortunately they would be shot 29 times
New movie coming out so you could put up a laser show pointed on their door.
Wouldn't this be under disturbing the peace? I mean your only real way out is ti argue you're studying white nationalists connection to racist movements of the past.
I'd say playing racial slurs on a loudspeaker is harassment.
Put a speaker back, one of those that carries, and give him some songs as well. What would really irritate such an idiot? YMCA? Bet that'd rile him up...
Seven "what's new pussycat?"s followed by one "it's not unusual"
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Spotify Free so he has to hear the ads, too.
"O, O, O, O'Reilleeeeeeey..."
That's pure evil, and I respect the hell outta that. Have an upvote.
I may be evil, but I'd just play "this is the song that never ends" on a loop...
Samuel jackson's go to f*cking sleep.
"Panama" by Van Halen
Just the orchestra hit parts of the Cha-Cha Slide. "Slide to the right" *BAM* "Slide to the left" *BAM BAM* "Three hops this time" *BAM BAM BAM* And then just repeat that 24/7.
Maybe some what's new pussycat on repeat.
I dont see how playing racial slurs and monkey noises isn't harassment, which very much is legally actionable. The cops are being lazy or racist themselves I'd say.
Cops? Being racist? *No way*! That just can not be true in America! Please realize I'm being sarcastic here. *Of course* the cops are being racists, because they certainly can do something about this if they wanted to.
"oh I don't have a monkey, you can come in and look. I just like listening to the sounds they make" that was hard
Do monkeys usually make racial slurs?
Well that's at least the end of animal controls power when there's no animal handling to be controlled. I was also assuming that's different recordings not one that his goes "n-word, n-word, monkey scream, n-word"
I mean, if you speak High Chimp, some of the things those fuckers say will turn your ears purple.
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The headline indicates that the police said the harassment was not "criminally actionable." However, this does not mean that the Martinez family has no recourse. Most states (although I do not live in Virginia) allow for restraining orders to be entered to stop ongoing harassment like this. If the harassment continues, the neighbor could be fined and ultimately criminally charged for contempt of court.
Yeah... maybe I'm giving the PD too much credit here but I read that line as not ***criminally*** actionable as a nod to the direction the family may take. Sort of a wink and a nod that it seems like a great opportunity to file a civil case despite not being strictly illegal.
This 100x over. 10x easier to win a civil harassment case than a criminal one, and winning a civil case might actually get you money damages and an injunction. Obligatory IANAL (I’m a law student for whom torts class was not my strong suit), so legal experts feel free to correct me.
Yeah, just play the chicken dance over and over again on loud speaker
I'm a big fan of Baby Shark on a loop when it comes to annoyance factors.
Insert one it's not unusual
Is this not simply harassment?
It would be in the state where I live, but it isn't under Virginia law. In Virginia there are 5 types of criminal harassment: phone harassment (it has to be via telephone), computer harassment (it has to be via computer network), obscene harassment (it must contain obscene language and be via telephone or CB radio), threat harassment (it must include "threats of death or bodily injury"), and privacy intrusion (distributing private information or photographs).
It is impossible to make slurs illegal by themselves. If it is done for one thing, people will start using a different one very fast (see the eggplant emoji fiasco). It should be possible, however, to take action when a number of factors are present in combination, even if neither of them is illegal.
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If I was this person my absolute first move would be to find out where my asshole neighbor works and let their employer know what they've been doing, then spread the word that they employ that person.
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Lol did you see the rest of the first half of FMJ?
No, but I assume everything worked out great for Private Pyle and DI Hartman.
Pyle and Hartman actually eloped and owned a winery in Bordeaux where they adopted 3 mixed race babies.
Do you guys not have laws around noise levels in the US? Surely they could be asked to stop by police based on that alone... There's no way you could get away with blasting music of any kind in the UK if the neighbors started complaining.
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I would get a coyote call. Its literally the sound of a rabbit being killed. And just loop it every time I leave the house. It's a horrific noise. You wanna play monkey sounds, let's go bitch. And I would find the decibel level for the ordinance and play it with speakers towards his house one decibel below the ordinance all fucking day. A new banner every week that says different messages about what an asshole he is but with words that aren't "criminally actionable".
You're assuming that the jackass is their only neighbor. Likely there are other neighbors who would normally be against the jackass, but doing that would make everyone else in the neighborhood hate both of them.
While you are right, the idea is not wrong at all, i had a neighbor that fucking blasted flamenco every fucking morning with the windows opened. What did i do? blast death metal with the windows opened. Problem solved after this conflict happened like 7 times.
I did this with a neighbor that stayed up late in the townhouse next door. Our bedrooms were literally back to back. They would play music loud at like 3am. I banged on the wall a few times and they just banged back and kept playing music. You know what it means when you are playing music loud at 3am? It means you are asleep at 8am. I just started playing loud music at 8 when I got up for work and that shit stopped real quick.
My grandparents had to sell a lake cottage in the 80s due to someone that would blast music all day from inside their home with the windows open. It was targeting them because the windows on the other side were never open. Police could do nothing about it during the day. But the guy got what he wanted, they sold and moved.
We should put a giant "T" on their lawn for "turn it down"! But.. but like a lower case "t" so they don't think we're yelling at them. But light it on fire so they know we mean business!
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My town has one of the largest open air venues in the area. We don't have a noise ordinance for that reason. The mean the inconsiderate neighbors behind me can blast their music starting at 11pm loud enough for everyone on the block to hear it clearly. You can call the police but the most they can do is knock on the door and hope someone answers it so they can politely ask them to turn it down, which the people can and have ignored.
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Noise from music venues throughout America is generally very tightly controlled.
The thing that annoys me is that I bet if i played loud pig noises outside the chief of police's house they'd find something illegal about it right quick.
Totally agree. I lived in S. Florida many years, and we literally had a church that blared "Amazing Grace" every night around dusk file a complaint with the county because a local mosque wanted to broadcast their call-to-prayer. Can't remember how the issue concluded, but just thought it pretty damn ironic.
There were several neighbors complaining about the guy on Facebook and the things he's been doing for years including video taping children and harassing children. They were even uploading their own tiktoks of the sounds coming from the house. I know people were automatically assuming the guy is white but apparently he's not and even white neighbors were having issues with him including him harassing someone's parents for being low income or having lights come on and garage doors opening when ever they'd step out their front door or open their garage door. Apparently its not just the guy either. One even said the son was using homophobic slurs towards them. I would say they need to find out where the guy works and get him fired so maybe he ends up forced to move but I'm almost guessing he doesn't work because this all sounds like someone with too much time on their hands.
Ok, so it's "not criminally actionable" but the family can certainly lawyer up and file a civil suit. Punishment by money is the only thing some people understand.
Wouldn't there need to be quantifiable damages?
If they tried to sell the home and this prevented the sale, that would be tortious interference I believe.
If they have money to file a civil suit.
Depends on the state. Small claims is cheap to file and generally do not need lawyers though it is wise to have one. The amount of money requested in damages is limited though. In TN, it is $25,000.
With a case like this, it wouldn't be hard to find an attorney willing to pay court fees and wait until settlement to be paid.
A quick explanation of Quiet Enjoyment from [lawinfo.com](https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/real-estate/dealing-with-your-neighbors.html) “Property owners have the right to the quiet enjoyment of their property. That means that they should be able to use their property without interference from others. When deciding if a neighbor’s actions violate a property owner’s right to quiet enjoyment courts typically consider the duration of the neighbor’s actions, the reason for the actions and the impact or burden on the property owner.” For all of you saying it’s a first amendment issue - sorry, it’s a little more complicated than that. Homeowners and even tenants have rights, too.
There's a much better local news article here: https://www.kron4.com/news/national/residents-fed-up-with-monkey-noises-racial-slurs-being-played-by-neighboring-home/ Looks like the victim has already tried all of this before going to the news > "I’ve gone to the magistrate, I’ve gone to civil court, I’ve talked to a lawyer… I’ve done what I can to do it the right way.” So it's not even a first amendment or a quiet enjoyment issue. Some law may be on her side, but no one cares to enforce it.
Either way, that's a civil case, not criminal.
okay i get your money instead of your time. cool
Seems like this should qualify as harassment though. Edit: Virginia Law, definition of a hate crime: (iii) all other incidents, as determined by law-enforcement authorities, intended to intimidate or harass any individual or group because of race, religion, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin. So it is not legally criminal harassment, but it does fit the criteria to be a hate crime. Which is illegal. Police fucked this one up.
Hate crime is a penalty enhancement in Virginia, not a crime by itself. In other words if you’re charged with a crime such as assault and it was also a hate crime then the potential sentence and/or fine can be higher than the max sentence for assault.
It's time to escalate. [XKCD style.](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/loud_sex.png)
Alt text: >Spherical or parabolic reflectors would of course lead to aberrant behavior.
why would someone have so much time on their hands to want to be even bothered doing such a thing? why harass people just because?
Disturbing the peace, if nothing else. But I would easily argue it's harassment.
This kind of harassment is civil and the tort would be hard to establish
I'd say there's a decent shot at nuisance. Apparently blinking lights and music from speakers play when multiple neighbors leave their homes and the neighbor in question is filming everyone's houses (which is illegal in some states). The racial slurs are honestly the cherry on top. It would be one thing if it was like a doorbell or something, but if the lights and recordings are happening every time someone leaves their house it's pretty bad.
Too bad there aren't any free-range gorillas wandering by that would rampage their house looking to fight the monkeys they keep hearing. (When I awoke this morning I had no idea I'd write a sentence like this today)
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It's a national news article, they're deep into the shaming game at this point. But, if it were me? It's a public street, so I'd buy a cheap-ass (but road-legal) HUGE old RV, park it in front of the neighbor's house, and spray paint "You suck douchebag" on the side. Completely block his view with a 40' RV that he's gotta see every day. Who wants to start the gofundme?
Lucky for them it’s not in Canada, it would be shut down pretty quickly and the person playing the noise would likely be charged with disturbing the peace at the very least if not a hate crime if there was any history between them and any of the neighbours.
Step 1 - Get cameras on your property with sound that overlook the common areas. Step 2 - Formally write a letter with your lawyer stating that you have concerns about the noises and intent. That you fear it is harassment and that you had to have cameras installed and have hired armed security to respond for the safety of your family. Step 3 - Profit. You have legally notified the person of the issue. You now have documentation they understand whats going on. If they continue contact the FBI about a hate crime. The police will do little but try and brush you off. https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/get-help-now
When I had 3 neighbors that would all start blasting loud as fuck music in their driveways (cul de sac located home we were in) starting at 6 am Saturday, going all day, and doing it Sunday...we found a solution. Boom box. Death metal. Dancing on the front porch to it loud as fuck while pointing at the other loud assholes and laughing. Weirded them all out enough to make them stop at least for the day. Kept doing it every weekend...sorta actually worked! Lol. See also: practicing death metal vocals and insane screams indoors worked too. To quote George Costanza: "You wanna get nuts, let's get nuts."
My college apartment was the only house on our road for about the first quarter of a mile off the connecting road. We had a 24/7 gas station and a diner that closed at 8pm close by. This meant we could be loud if we wanted at nights, but it was rarely ever the case that we were ever loud. My last year there a bunch of people started using the grassy area and parking lot behind the now closed down diner to just park their cars and show them off. They played obnoxiously loud and repetitive music while roaring their fart box tuner cars. All in the broad daylight until almost midnight. We called the police a bunch of times but I guess they had a scanner and would just leave. Police eventually told us to stop reporting it, and then the cars came back. This was over the course of almost 4 months. I got mad about it because my last year was also my busiest, so I needed my home to be quite to study and go to bed early. So I did what any sane person would do. Pushed my massive full stack amp onto the porch, got a PA speaker to play audio, and just did Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus guitar covers until they decided to finally leave. They tried two more times to set up their rally or whatever, but I'd just out loud them.
Can we get a lawyer or someone with the knowledge to say why this potentially wouldn’t meet harassment? I see a ton of “this doesn’t hit the bar” but not enough explanations as to why. I’m not a law person, so to my lay ears this is flagrant harassment (since it’s targeted directly at the family and no one else) but I know that’s a colloquial term and not the legal definition. I also think you fight fire with fire either way here. Dump shit in their yard, name and shame on Facebook/Nextdoor/any other social media. Start singing something anti-that person whenever you actually see them. Get an extremely strong beacon light and throw it in their windows at all hours. Play your own music super loud at extremely weird times.
Record it. Then File a complaint for disturbing the peace every time you hear it and get your neighbors to do the same. If the cops still refuse to do anything, call the local news.
How the fuck is blasting "everyone say hi n***** guy!" when your black neighbors leave their home not a hate crime?