I am a single divorced father who took my kids on their first vacation in over a year to Kismet, NY. On 8/18/21 around 1:40PM, while walking back from a hike to the Fire Island Lighthouse, my two young boys started fighting with each other, then ran in front of a moving PSEG utility truck and almost got run over.
Given the circumstances, I admit I was completely shaken and highly emotional, yelled at them out of sheer terror, then stopped on the side of the road to severely scold them for misbehaving in such a reckless and dangerous manner. It was not my proudest moment as a parent, and in hindsight I could have handled the situation in a more appropriate fashion, but I wanted to drill into my sons that what they did could never happen again.
The Family Court Act of the State of New York defines child neglect or abuse as the act, or failure to act, by any parent or caretaker that results in the death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation of a child under the age of 18. Scolding them for running into traffic does not qualify as child abuse. I never have and never would lay a hand on either of my kids, and how I choose to discipline my children, so long as it's within the boundaries of the law, is my responsibility and my business alone as their father.
While I was scolding my kids, a woman and a man followed and stopped alongside us, then demanded to speak to me several times. I paid the two strangers no mind, because I was busy disciplining my children, and was in no way obligated to respond to their unsolicited inquiries.
The woman, frustrated that I ignored her, instead of addressing her with deference, flagged down a white vehicle with “Public Safety” marked on the side, then lied to the officer inside saying that I was abusing my children, and to call 911. My oldest son immediately told the officer that the allegation was completely untrue. The public safety officer drove away without taking any action - because there was no reason to.
Undeterred, the woman continued to try to stop several other people passing by to join her harassment of me and my children to no avail. The man made a comment saying “This isn’t China” (I’m Korean-American), then began to approach me in an intimidating fashion. Note his bicycle direction and tire track in the sand in the video which supports my claim.
Due to the racist comment, the man’s large physical size and body language (I’m 5’4 / 125lbs, the man was about 6’2 / 200lbs), and having to factor the safety of my two kids, I felt intimidated and threatened, pulled out my phone, and began recording the both of them. At that point the man and woman’s aggressive demeanor immediately changed and stopped approaching me, but continued to harass me and my children.
In the video I recorded, I repeatedly asked the woman and her friend calmly but firmly to “Please leave me alone, you are harassing me” no less than thirteen (13) times. My oldest son also asked them to “Stop” twice. The man continued his harassment by repeatedly questioning me about my employment, asking me what I "Did for work" and if it was "Stressful", then the woman told yet another older couple passing by that she “Thought (they) were trying to help.”
According to NY Penal Law, First-Degree Harassment includes situations when a person repeatedly and deliberately harasses another person by a) following them in public and/or b) exhibiting behavior that puts the victim in reasonable fear of injury. The woman and the man, as seen in the video, engaged in both behaviors.
Later in the video, the woman demanded to know if I was from "Kismet or Saltaire", asks “Why are you here (in this town)?” twice, then told me “Go harass your kids in another town” before finally leaving me and my children alone. The video of her doing so proves her intentions were not about the welfare of my children, but about exerting her self-entitled superiority over others.
I have zero doubt that had me and my kids looked like the woman and her friend, they would have continued on their way without incident. I am very upset that the woman attempted to use her privilege to punish and separate my family via local law enforcement, simply because I wouldn't respond to her in a subordinate manner that she is most likely used to.
My kids are traumatized, and keep asking me if the police will take me away, and why we don’t belong in that town because of her ranting telling us to leave. They loved Fire Island but now they don’t want to return because they are uncomfortable and scared of what might happen to me, and in turn them.
How the woman and man treated me and my family was wrong, plain and simple.
https://twitter.com/Grace4NY/status/1...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
https://nextshark.com/fire-island-cou...
https://www.tiktok.com/@auntkaren0/vi...
Информация по комментариям в разработке