A Michigan judge tossed out a case against a Black man who was falsely accused of serious allegations by three white women in his Detroit neighborhood.
“They get to ruin my life, say anything they want, and then they get to go on with their lives,” Marc Peeples told Metro Times.
Peeples said he’s just starting to put his life back together after the three women harassed him from 2017 to 2018 because they didn’t like his community garden project. He was called the police on dozens of times by the residents, claiming he was a pedophile, threatened to shoot them, vandalized neighborhood homes and that he was a part of a drive-by shooting.
The victim’s attorney, Robert Burton-Harris, said the allegations against his client were because of his race and were completely false. He said the only crime Peeples committed was “gardening while Black.”
District Court Judge E. Lynise Bryant agreed with Peeples and his attorney. She called the case “ridiculous” and tossed it out on Thursday.
During the hearing Bryant added, “[The three white women] should be sitting at the defendant’s table for stalking and harassment charges, not Mr. Peeples. … This is disgusting and a waste of the court’s time and resources.”
WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 10: A gardener drives a lawn mower in Home Park ahead of the wedding of Prince Harry and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle on May 10, 2018 in Windsor, England. St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle will host the wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle on May 19. The town, which gives its name to the Royal Family, is ready for the event and the expected tens of thousands of royalists. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Bryant found that the claims and police reports filed against Peeples were completely false and “engaged in a very targeted and constant harassment of the young man.” When reviewing a Detroit police officer’s body cam who responded to a 911 call from one of the women, the cop could be heard saying this is “B.S.”
During one incident, Deborah Nash, who lives across the street from the neighborhood park Peeples worked in, called the cops and claimed Peeples was threatening her with a firearm. DPD sent out three patrol cars and six officers only to find the victim raking leaves in a vacant lot.
Peeples said the women did and said anything they could just to remove him from their neighborhood.
“It was blatant racism. They didn’t like the fact that a black man was in so-called ‘their’ neighborhood without their permission,” he said. “It’s frustrating to have accusations placed on you with no merit, and they get you all the way into court to go to trial. If someone believed their story and I was found guilty, I would be in county jail doing up to a year just because they don’t want … a black person in their area.”
Peeples has lost contracts, lost money to hire attorneys and had his name dragged through the mud. He even had to pay $3,500 to get out on bond after officers arrested him on stalking charges against him for no explicable reason.
“They get to ruin my life, say anything they want, and then they get to go on with their lives,” he said.
Peeples has setup a GoFundMe account to help him with some of the wages he lost dealing with the women’s false claims and losing out on contracts.
“People are giving these ladies funny nicknames but this is serious,” said the victim. “This is my life, what these people are doing is not cute — it’s ugly.”
