Karens: Calling the Cops on Black People for Shoveling Snow Is a New Low
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Karens will call the cops on Black people for any reason or no reason. The latest example comes from Rockford, Illinois, where two Black men were threatened with being called the police while they were shoveling snow.
Gregory McAdory and his friend have a snow removal business in Rockford, Illinois. The two had gone to shovel their friend’s driveway Feb 17th and afterwards they decided to move on to clear the sidewalk in front of the neighbor’s house. McAdory told The Daily Beast the owner of the house suddenly came outside fussing about their act of service.
On cue, he took a TikTok video showing the ridiculousness which captured the Karen pulling snow with her shovel back on to the freshly shoveled sidewalk.
“Are you seriously mad because we cleaned off your sidewalk? We’re helping you,” McAdory says behind the camera. The woman then throws her shovel on the ground and pulls out her phone appearing to call 911.
“They’ll come faster if you say there’s two n—gers over here,” McAdory says in the video. The woman proceeds to tell the police, “These guys are African American. I don’t get along with them.”
The Rockford Police Department provided a log of the service call to The Daily Beast, confirming it was placed at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 17. The caller—whose name had been blocked out—reported disorderly conduct and an “urgent” need for help, the call dispatcher’s notes say.
According to the notes, “There is a [race redacted]/M there harassing her and she doesn’t want him there.”
Another comment says there are “2 [race redacted]/[males]. “She says they are disrespecting her and she wants them gone,” the notes say.
The call log says officers were on the scene for about 18 minutes. An administrator from the Rockford Police Department told The Daily Beast that a police report was not taken during the incident.
Eventually the two were told by the cops to avoid the drama and just leave the woman’s property alone. However, McAdory told The Daily Beast he was only trying to do an act of kindness because the woman had complained about them shoveling their friend’s driveway before.
Unfortunately, this is what happens when Black folks try to take the peaceful approach. Our kindness doesn’t mean anything to a racist who already perceives our existence as a threat. Consider the 9-year-old young girl from New Jersey who used a homemade remedy to rid her neighborhood of invasive insects last year. A neighbor called the cops on her describing her as suspicious when in reality she was just trying to help save the environment.
These examples just prove how far Karens will go to call the police on Black people. Even the most innocent of acts can be misconstrued and result in a police call. Black people should be able to enjoy simple pleasures, like shoveling snow, without the fear of being profiled or racially targeted. It’s time for Karens to realize that they can’t weaponize the police against Black people for any small slight.
