A South Milwaukee Black woman who filed a restraining order against her neighbor after he berated her with racial slurs and drove his car into her yard fence in 2022 continues to live her life in fear.
The woman says despite the man intentionally wrecking her property and using abusive language, he has not faced serious consequences from law enforcement.
In July 2022, Rhonda Ronsman’s neighbor, Joseph Wise, reportedly drove his vehicle into the wooden fence surrounding her and her husband’s home. The woman previously heard the white neighbor telling others in the community he wanted to knock down the fence.
Part of the issue with the fence was that the Ronsmans put it up to stop him from continuing to destroy their property.
After police were dispatched to her home to assess the situation, the neighbor continued to yell and use foul language — to such an extent he was issued a disorderly conduct citation.
Three months later, in October 2022, Ronsman secured a restraining order from a judge to stop him from harassing her and her family through various acts of intimidation, like riding his truck up to their property and speeding off.
WATCH VIDEO OF THE AFTERMATH OF THE CRASH HERE.
When talking about getting the restraining order, Ronsman said Wise told the judge that he didn’t believe the N-word was a racist term.
“He was trying to explain to her why he said the N-word; his word was that he was brought up to believe that that word means ignorance and has nothing to do with color,” the woman recalled in an interview with the host of “Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey.” “So, somebody who feels comfortable saying something like that just has no line.”
The woman said she also believes Wise was uncomfortable living next to a Black woman and did not like that the family built the fence in the first place.
Since receiving the restraining order, Wise has continued to intimidate Ronsman by lurking near the property and popping up to assert his looming presence, she said. Ronsman and her husband have videotaped these incidents and sent them to local law enforcement, but believe their efforts have been in vain.
The police have told her that from what is captured in the video, there is “not a violation of the restraining order.”
