Targeted by Hate Attacks; Help Protect Our Family

TL;DR

For more than a year and a half, our family has been victimized by a campaign of targeted hate-fueled harassment and direct vandalism of our home and property. The attacks have escalated and despite our best efforts, the legal system has been unable to protect us. We need funds to install a protective, fire-proof metal panel fence and enhanced camera system to protect our family and home.

Story:

In May 2021 we achieved the dream of owning our own home. Members of our family (both biological and chosen) are part of the LGBTQIA community, and we happily hung a pride flag from our new porch. At first, there were minor incidents that we wrote off as pranks—our yard signs were stolen along with our fall pumpkins from our porch. Then late one night our house was pelted with pumpkins and other rotting squash. We cleaned up and hoped these were isolated Halloween hijinks.

Unfortunately, we were wrong. The harassment became bolder and more targeted, with vandals coming onto our property and stealing from our porch. Our pride flag was stolen and destroyed more than a dozen times, our mailbox was destroyed, and our home and cars were egged repeatedly. During this time our youngest child was called anti-Semitic slurs at school and told by their peers that they should be “hung from a tree.”

To protect our family from what is feeling like escalating danger, we notified authorities and installed security cameras. Despite the cameras, the vandals grew bolder. Swastikas and “fuck LGBT” were painted on our fence—we reported the acts yet again, pressure-washed the vandalized fence and eggs from the house and repainted where necessary. The cameras did catch the parties, but their faces were covered and their heads hooded, and law enforcement could not positively identify them.

Shortly after the incident with the swastikas, the vandals parked out of range of our cameras and begin firing roman candles and other incendiary devices at our home and fence. It was raining and the fires they started were small and the damage was contained to burn marks on the fence and various craters around the yard. This happened again on Thanksgiving night, only this time the devices they shot blew holes in our fence.

Finally, in December 2022 the sheriff’s department tentatively identified and the prosecutor charged one individual with malicious mischief. It is believed there are at least three sets of individuals involved but we could only secure a temporary protective order against one. The local FBI office is involved because these incidents may violate hate-crime statutes. Despite our requests, the temporary protective order expired last week.

Last night (March 18, 2023) it happened again. Six feet from my child’s window there is a new incendiary crater almost a foot across and our fence has fresh scorch marks.

Law enforcement authorities have apologized to our family and urged us to do whatever we can to keep our family safe because without more concrete evidence their options are limited.

Our children do not feel safe in our home, and my spouse is a Gulf War veteran who is combating PTSD. Our lives have been so disrupted that he’s had to seek acute psychiatric intervention through the Veteran’s Administration. We have both lost time at work and revenue from my business, as well as incurred repair, insurance, legal, and medical expenses—all in an attempt to enjoy the peace and safety of our own home. We are all on edge and constantly bracing for the next attack.

We have determined the best course of action to protect our home is to replace our scorched, burned, hole-filled wooden fence with a tall metal-panel fence that will resist fire and other projectile incendiary objects. But we need to swallow our pride and ask: We need help.

Once a solid fence is installed, we intend to have a community-building event and repaint our messages of support on the fence; we will not allow hate to define us. Any funds raised beyond the cost of a more protective fence and security system will be directed toward local organizations that support marginalized communities.