Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Woman finds racist fliers on her door
3 teens charged in Middletown
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
MIDDLETOWN — An African-American woman who found racist fliers on her door says she will be more cautious and make sure her doors are locked. But she will not leave.
“My first instinct was to leave, but I'm going to stay,” said Renee Joiner, who grew up in Wyoming and is living with her fiance, Chris Sillet, and his 16-year-old son on Fleming Street.
“I refuse to be run off my property,” she said. “I've dealt with prejudice before, but they were subtle actions, never something so blatant as this.”
Ms. Joiner said she found the fliers March 7 inside her screen door and on a lamppost around the corner. She said hers is the only African-American family on her street.
Middletown police have charged three white boys, ages 15, 16, and 17, with menacing/ethnic intimidation in connection with the incident. Two of the boys, who have prior juvenile arrest records, will appear in Butler County Juvenile Court on the charges Thursday, said Middletown police Lt. Don Owens.
The 17-year-old is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday in Middletown Juvenile Diversion Court, a program for first-time, teen-age offenders.
The 16- and 17-year-old boys have been suspended from Middletown High and are recommended for expulsion after school officials Thursday found them with racially offensive fliers, said Principal Gary Perkins. After one of the boys dropped the fliers and a teacher saw them, the student admitted making them on a school computer, Mr. Perkins said.
After further investigation by Assistant Principal Dennis Newell, the second boy admitted he placed a racially offensive poem in the computer. The poem and fliers were deleted.
“I don't think this was any kind of organized effort,” Mr. Newell said. “Their reasoning was very immature. They did not think things through.”
Ms. Joiner said she was pleased with the response from Middletown police but is still being careful.
“I tend to look over my shoulder a little more, which is uncomfortable for me,” she said. “The Middletown Police have been wonderful about this. They took it seriously.”
“We're just not going to tolerate this,” Lt. Owens said. “We're going to be aggressive and arrest the people who do it to make sure it does not happen again.”
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Woman finds racist fliers on her door
