Terry Williams says he can’t sleep at night after the events of what happened April 26. One what seemed like an ordinary morning, Terry woke up to take his three Rottweilers out for a walk around 6 a.m. That’s when his father found something on the doorstep that shook him to the core.
It was a clear plastic zip bag with words scrawled in black marker.
“It has gangster, thug, and other negative stuff about Black people on there,” Williams said.
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The contents inside were even worse.
“A picture of me with a noose around the neck and a noose around the dog figurine,” he said.
Also inside, this stuffed doll so graphic and laden with slurs, we couldn’t show any of it on television.
“Calling me monkey, go pick cotton…” rattles off Williams, who recalls such terrible slurs and sayings — he had to consult a family member asking about them.
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A sheet of paper inside was also so laden with hateful speech, ABC7 News also had to blur it out.
“It says the 4th of July is for White people not for Black people, among other things,” Williams said.
Terry says, as a dog walker for more than a decade and someone living in Alamo Square since the 70s, he’s no stranger to racism but never vitriol and hate like this.
Terry has no idea who could have left the package but provided police surveillance video from a neighbor showing an individual approach his home around 12:30 a.m. SFPD tell me the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
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Terry is sharing his story not just to represent his industry. “As a minority dog walker, I’m trying to get more people of color to do it,” he said.
He’s also encouraging others to speak out and help end the hate – in the neighborhood he loves and calls home.
“This has got to stop. My people don’t speak up – they keep everything tucked in. You can’t let this go by. Can’t let this go by. The more stuff you let go by the most they feel entitled to do stuff. This is my way stepping up, no I’m not letting this happen no more. This makes me want to stay and fight harder, I’m not going anywhere.”
Neighbors have rallied behind Terry and started this GoFundMe to help him pay for security cameras at his home.
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