CALDWELL, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey man called the police on a nine-year-old Black girl while she was outside spraying trees with a homemade solution to protect them from spotted lanternflies.
The man called the Caldwell police department on Oct. 22, saying “There is a little Black woman walking and spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence,” according to a recording obtained by PIX11. “I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me though.”
The child was spraying trees with a homemade solution to kill spotted lanternflies — an invasive species that the New Jersey Department of Agriculture has asked citizens to help the state eradicate.
Her parents said the officer who arrived was able to resolve the situation without any conflict, but they’re angry that their neighbor sent an armed police officer to confront a child participating in a helpful activity.
Monique Joseph, the girl’s mother, told PIX11 she was furious when she realized what was happening.
“I was shaking inside and I was steadying myself because I did not want [the officer] to feel my anger and then I get myself in trouble,” she said. “[She] is not a woman. She is nine years old. All I could think is, what was his intention? What did he expect to happen on the other side of that? Was he okay as her neighbor with her being approached by the police?”
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