An Asian American woman from Shoreline, Washington has filed a lawsuit against her neighbor alleging that she threatened her life, KOMO News reports. Prosecutors have already charged the neighbor with a felony hate crime.
Vietnamese immigrant Thi Pham was working in her garden last April when she says her 72-year-old White neighbor Jan Meyers began to harass her, KING 5 reports. Pham recorded the incident on her phone.
“You’re not gonna live very long,” the voice in the video says.
Pham says Meyers has been harassing her since she moved to the neighborhood with her family four years ago. She claims Meyers has called her slurs, stalked her and peered in her windows.
Two weeks before Pham took the video of Meyers allegedly threatening her life she says Meyers, who was semi-naked from below the waist, gave Pham and her 2-year-old son the middle finger.
“I don’t feel safe in my home,” Pham told KING 5.
Meyers has pleaded not guilty to one count of felony hate crime for the incident in April, KOMO News reports. A judge authorized Meyers’ release but also issued no-contact, anti-harassment order. Pham’s attorneys say she has already violated the no-contact order.
Pham, who is seeking $100,000 in damages, hopes that her lawsuit will help others facing racial harassment.
“I hope what happened to me, not happen with everyone, I help stop, that’s what I want,” Pham told Komo News.
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