Black Family Claims White Neighbor Falsely Accused Them of Assault After Patio Dispute

Fareed Nassor Hayat posted video of a verbal altercation with his neighbor "Susan," who allegedly "called the police to lodge a false report of assault."

Fareed Nassor Hayat FB
Image via Facebook
Fareed Nassor Hayat FB

A Black law professor from New Jersey claims his white neighbor falsely accused him of assault following a dispute over his family's patio.

On Monday, Fareed Nassor Hayat posted a Facebook video in which a woman is seen standing in the street with a cellphone to her ear. The woman, who is identified as EPA employee "Susan," is heard telling the police that a "gentleman pushed her off his property." The footage was taken by Hayat's wife, Norrinda Brown Hayat, who claims this particular neighbor has "been waiting two years to do this to us."

The white neighbor repeatedly states she was pushed during the altercation; however, several white neighbors are heard defending the Hyatts, insisting no such assault ever occurred.

"Susan for Marion Road has been harassing us for two years, Norrinda Brown Hayat says. 

"Oh my god. No I have not," the neighbor responds. "Prove that, please. You're an attorney, you know you have to prove that in court. Just 'cause you said that, doesn't mean it's true."

Fareed Nassor Hayat's Facebook post sheds some more light on what allegedly led up to the altercation. He claims it all started after "Susan, aka Permit Karen," went to his house three times within 30 minutes, demanding to know if his family had obtained the proper permits to install their backyard patio. Fareed Nassor Hayat said Susan admitted she didn't know if a permit was legally required, but threatened to call the police if the family didn't "answer her questions and submit to her demands." He claims he and his family did some research and determined a permit wasn't necessary for the size of their stone patio.

"A permit is not required in Montclair for a stone patio this size," Fareed Nassor Hayat captioned the Facebook video. "This fact was known to us through our own independent research, our contractor and later verified when Building and Safety staff came to his home to investigate the complaint.

"When challenged about her flawed legal conclusions, assumption of right, her lack of agency over our home and our eventual demand that she leave our property immediately, Susan decided to call the police and make a false report of assault," Fareed Nassor Hayat wrote. "She invoked centuries of brutality in her call to the police and sought to put her black neighbors back in their place. She believed that we were required to answer her questions and smile while doing so. But to her surprise, her efforts were met by two proudly black human beings, parents, lawyers, law professors, activist, community members, neighbors, citizens and fighters, who refused to submit."

He then went on to acknowledge his other white neighbors who came to his defense.

"Their efforts were antiracist ideology at work. Each neighbor declared to her and the police that she summoned, that she was a lie and no such assault occurred," he continued. "She left our home, rejected and unfulfilled, yet still empowered to do future harm. To her Black Lives Don’t Matter when up against her presumed inalienable rights of whiteness. She did not see the flaw in her ways or apologize for her behavior. Her type, the racist, must be rejected and ostracized like she was today by Norrinda and I, but equally important, by our white neighbors here in Montclair and our white and non-white allies worldwide."

Several social media users and a number of outlets have identified the white neighbor as Susan Schulz.

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