A Black family said they were inside their home in a suburb of Detroit when they were subjected to a “racially motivated” attack.
Husband and wife Eddie and Candace Hall were relaxing in their home on the evening of Sept. 9 when a noise caught their attention around 9:30 p.m.
Candace described the noise as a “hissing” sound. “I thought he opened up a pop,” she said to the Detroit News.
When Eddie looked out of the window and saw someone hiding behind a car in the dark, he went to another room to retrieve his gun.
“As I was walking through the room, all I hear is a crash,” Candace said. “Glass was flying. I dropped to the floor and started crawling. I was scared.” At this point, Eddie told her to call the police.
A rock large enough to have required two hands to throw, according to Candace, had shattered a large window at the front of the couple’s Warren, Michigan, home. It landed on the family’s couch, and glass shards were left scattered about the room.
When police arrived on the scene they noticed that tires on three family vehicles had been slashed. Threats left on the cars read “terrorist black lives matter” “get the f-ck out” “not welcome,” and a swastika.
Video of the aftermath of the attack was posted to Eddie’s Facebook page.
“Somebody just threw a nice big rock right through my picture window. This just happened about two minutes ago,” Candace says in the video, showing the shattered window and a large rock resting on the couch.
“This is why, because I have Black lives matter in my yard,” she adds.
A Black Lives Matter sign has been displayed in the window of the home for two months. Candace said she believes the attack was racially motivated.
“There is tension because of Black Lives Matter and white supremacists,” she said, calling her community a “good neighborhood.”
In the video, she shows the slashed tires and threats written on her husband’s truck.
Police Commissioner William Dwyer said Eddie described an unidentified man in a ski mask and hoodie running running in the opposite direction of the home.
Dwyer said that kind of behavior will not be tolerated in the Warren community.
Mayor James Fouts responded to the incident in a statement posted to Facebook.
“Our city is a true melting pot of many different races and religions. All help to make Warren a good community,” Fouts wrote. “They are all welcome but those who would peddle hate and cause destruction are NOT welcome in Warren and should be aware that our city leadership and myself in particular will never stop in pursuit of justice.”
Candace said she refuses to take the Black Lives Matter sign down or leave the neighborhood.
“We are shook up from this. We are not running. I am not going to take my sign down. We are not leaving. We are standing our ground,” she said. No one was injured in the incident. The Halls’ 18-year-old son was home at the time, while their 16-year-old daughter was not in the house.
The police department is reviewing the evidence in the video footage and offering a reward to anyone who can provide information about the case.
