Two white women claiming to work for an elementary school asked a Black mother and her young children to pack up and leave a park because they wanted to let their dogs run off-leash.
When she refused, they told her she was trespassing and threatened to call the cops on her family.
In a video that is going viral on TikTok, Judith Baity shared the disheartening confrontation that occurred at a playground at Vandora Springs Elementary in Garner, North Carolina, which is open to the public when school is not in session. Sitting adjacent to a larger public park called Jaycee Park, Baity said she has been taking her family to this playground for years without incident.
She certainly wasn’t expecting to be targeted while enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon with her children, tossing around a football and playing with bubbles. When two women approached her and pressured her to leave so their dogs could roam freely, she was taken aback.
@cutiejudyb I took my kids to the playground to play. We have been going here for years. A woman approaches me and says are you all about to leave. I said No. we just arrived #vandorasprings #karens #police ♬ original sound – Judith Baity
“That makes no sense,” she told her viewers in the video.
Baity initially brushed them off, and that’s when the two white women escalated the situation by accusing her of trespassing on private property.
“Well, if I’m trespassing, you’re trespassing too, and the dogs are also,” she recalled saying in her video recap of the encounter. In a ridiculous attempt to justify their actions, the women claimed they worked at the school and the dogs did too, which gave them the right to force her out of the park and call the police.
“If you are a teacher, and you act like that, I would never allow my kids in Vandora Springs Elementary,” she stated.
The recording showed officers talking to the two white women at a picnic table. Instead of ticketing them for having their dogs off-leash, the police told everyone to leave the park, Baity said.
@cutiejudyb Update… principal was super understanding and apologized🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 #fyp #school ♬ original sound – Judith Baity
Afterward, the principal of the Vandora Springs Elementary apologized to Baity.
“Families are welcomed and valued, and that is not how we treat families or children,” the principal stated, according to Baity’s follow-up video, also posted to TikTok.
While her toddler was fast asleep on her shoulder, her older son couldn’t resist chiming in with his own logical assessment.
“They called the police on us for no reason. They went blah blah blah blah blah,” he said, adding, “We even had a baby there. Why would they let the dogs out? The dogs can bite a baby. What are they talking about?”
The comment section wholeheartedly agreed with the young man.
“Imagine calling the cops because babies are playing at the park,” said one person. “Lil man bringing up some valid points,” said a second. “The baby boy got more sense than the two ladies calling the police,” wrote another.
Many commenters pointed out that dogs are typically not permitted on school grounds, unless they are medically necessary. And, according to the Garner city website, dogs are never allowed off-leash at public parks, unless it’s a designated dog park.
“I feel like people that abuse emergency services with this petty mess need to be brought up on charges,” read one comment with nearly 1,000 likes. “They need to cover the cost of services,” agreed another. “These usual suspects should be fined for calling the police.”
