A Black Michigan woman who was fined $385 for talking too loud believes that the fine was racially motivated.
On Thursday, May 2th, Diamond Robinson walked back and forth on her block in her Eastpointe neighborhood in Detroit while talking on her phone. A white female resident approached Robinson and asked that she either lower her voice or end the call. Robinson responded by telling the person to “get out of my face” and continued with her conversation. When she failed to comply with the neighbor’s demands, the woman called the police on Robinson.
When police arrived minutes later, Robinson informed them that she was streaming the encounter on Facebook Live.
“I’m not doing anything wrong by walking up and down the street, talking on my phone,” she is heard saying in the video. However, police still issued her a $385 ticket for being a public nuisance.
Robinson believes that she was targeted because she was Black.
“You can’t tell me that I’m not being harassed because baby I am. I’ve been living in Eastpointe for five years, and I know what public nuisance is. There’s no way police should be called on me when I am on my own property, in my own neighborhood, on my own block.”
Robinson has since installed security cameras outside of her home and is preparing for an upcoming court date to contest the ticket.
The resident declined to comment on the matter.
