A military family in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is dealing with a profound level of racism and harassment, and authorities say there is nothing that can be done about it. Jannique Martinez, who is Black, says when she, her husband, and their three children moved into the home five years ago, it was a dream come true. "The minute we found this home, I loved it. It was everything I envisioned for my family and for raising my kids in a nice, quiet neighborhood.“

Shortly after moving in, Martinez said the next-door neighbor would often play very loud music that rattled her home. There was also something bizarre about the nature of when and how the music would blare. “We noticed a little erratic behavior, like these blinking lights that are on a sensor. When my family or any other family leaves or returns to their homes, they all start to blink. When the sensors are activated, loud music begins to play. He switches the music based on the family that is activating the music.” This includes other families in the cul-de-sac where Martinez lives.

Recently, after having to call the police a few times to get the man next door to turn down his music, Martinez says the neighbor escalated his harassment into the realm of baldfaced bigotry.

Martinez spoke to NBC affiliate WAVY. “Whenever we would step out of our house, the monkey noises would start. And it’s so racist and it’s disgusting,” she said. Her seven-year-old son has had to ask her about the N-word after hearing it so many times from across the way. “I didn’t subject my kids to that. I didn’t think they would ever have to learn what this means.” Besides the monkey noises, the neighbor has supposedly begun blaring audio of skits he pulls off the internet that use the N-word repeatedly. You know, real banal racist humor type of stuff.

Martinez says she’s been told by police that there is nothing they can do since the neighbor has not directly threatened her or anyone else. Virginia Beach Police released a statement calling the neighbor’s behavior “appalling and offensive.” The police continued by saying, “The city attorney and Virginia magistrates have separately determined that the actions reported thus far did not rise to a level that Virginia law defines as criminal behavior.” As such, the VBPD aren’t going to do much of anything except “closely monitor the situation, investigate complaints and, within the limits of the law, help this family with this most unpleasant situation.”

When asked about the kids in general, Martinez said her kids are resilient, telling CNN’s Don Lemon, “My two older kids handled it pretty well. They just ignored him and knew that he was ignorant, and they paid it no mind. But my youngest, who just turned seven, he used to be terrified. And I say ‘used to be,’ because now he’s come such a long way, and he’s found his strength, and he’s found his voice. But, he’s been living in this house since he was two, so that’s all he knows.” Even before the racism was cranked up to 11, Martinez says the neighbor was incredibly off-putting and standoffish.

Martinez told Lemon that she and her husband have tried not to interact with the man across the way, not wanting to “provoke him,” saying that one of the only interactions she has had directly with him came in September 2020, when everyone was having a tough time facing the beginning of a pandemic school year. The kids had just logged in for virtual school around 8 a.m., and unfortunately, the family’s office window faces the neighbor’s home. The neighbor, according to Martinez, was blaring music and she went over to ask him to turn it down, to which he replied: “Well, let me call the police to make sure I’m in good standing with the law to play my music.” Which is an unhinged thing to say.

Martinez has told various outlets that she has felt pretty “helpless” in this situation, after having spoken to police, the magistrate, and a civil judge, all of whom told her she didn’t have much of a case—legally speaking. Shortly after the story first appeared last week, neighbors gathered to show their support, holding up signs the read “Love thy neighbor.” 

Martinez told WAVY that the authorities say there is nothing they can do unless lines are crossed. Those “lines” include phrases like “bodily harm” or “threats to my family,” and she wants to know why something cannot be done before it reaches that point. “People shouldn’t have to live like this. I spent 11 years in the military, my husband is also a vet, we fought for this country and yet there is no one to fight for us.”

Asked if her family has ever considered moving, Martinez was adamant: “Absolutely not.”  

Here is Martinez talking to local news about the issue with her misanthropic racist neighbor.

YouTube Video

You can watch Jannique Martinez’s interview with Don Lemon on CNN. It includes video and audio of the racist activity emanating from her neighbor’s home.

YouTube Video