A white New Jersey woman has been dubbed ‘Permit Karen’ for calling the police on her black neighbors after she repeatedly harassed them about needing a permit to install a patio in their backyard.
On Monday Fareed Nassor Hayat, an attorney and Law Professor at the City University of New York, and his wife Norrinda filmed the moment their neighbor, Susan Schulz, stormed their front lawn and called the police on them.
The couple said Schulz walked onto their property three times within 30 minutes to ask if they had a permit to install a stone patio in their backyard, on the other side of the fence of her yard, according to Tap Into Montclair.
Fareed said his contractor had already checked to see if permits were needed and they weren’t required in Montclair for their renovation work.
Still, Schulz repeatedly demanded to know about the permits and their verbal dispute escalated in her calling the cops claiming that Fareed pushed her.
Viral video shows the moment white woman Susan Schulz of Montclair, New Jersey calls the cops on her black neighbors, accusing one of them of pushing her
Fareed Nassor Hayat and his wife Norrinda claimed Schulz walked on their property three times asking if they had permits for a stone patio they were building in their backyard. Their verbal dispute culminated into Schulz calling the police claiming Fareed pushed her. Schulz pictured talking to police and claiming she was pushed to neighbors
The shocking video shared to Facebook begins with Schulz accusing Fareed of pushing her.
At the start of the clip Schulz is seen on the phone saying, ‘I’m calling the police’.
‘Call the police. We expect that of Amys. We expect that!’ Norrinda says, her voice shaking behind the camera.
‘He attacked me…The gentleman who is taller than me pushed me off his property,’ Schulz says to the police on the phone, adding she doesn’t think they have permits to do the renovation work on their home.
‘She’s been waiting two years to do this to us!’ Norrinda exclaims.
A neighbor walking her dog is heard in the background stops and slams Schulz for harassing the neighbors.
‘Shame on you! In this climate right now, you’re especially not supporting members of our community here,’ the woman says.
‘Did you just seem him, who pushed me 10 feet?’ Schulz replies.
‘I didn’t put my hands on you, woman,’ Fareed says.
‘This is for the people so they can see even in Montclair what we are living with, even in Montclair, for two years. Susan from Marrion Road has been harassing us for two years,’ Norrinda Hayat said in the video clip the couple later shared to Facebook
Fareed, an attorney and Law Professor at the City University of New York, shared the video on Facebook on June 29 where it’s gone viral with over 11,000 views, and where commenters have dubbed Schulz ‘Permit Karen’. Cops say neither party have filed complaints following Monday’s incident
Another neighbor behind the camera defends Fareed saying, ‘No I watched it, and he didn’t.’
‘Are you going to say you didn’t put your hands on me?’ Schulz asks.
‘No one put…he put his hands on me. I asked you to please leave,’ Norrinda replies.
‘Oh my god. Cause you’re attorneys. You know what to do!’ Schulz shouts.
‘Exactly. So please walk away from our property,’ Fareed says.
‘Just let her. So our kids don’t have to see the police please. Please just go inside with them,’ Norrinda says to her husband.
Neighbors across the road also defend the Hayats, saying: ‘He was angry. She [Norrinda] was pushing him back.’
‘Look at my arms!’ Schulz complains coming near the neighbor, leading her to jump back shouting, ‘Don’t come near me without a mask.’
Schulz then walks back to the couple and asks them to stop recording.
The ‘Permit Karen’ incident triggered a brief protest on Tuesday where protesters marched down the street outside Schulz’s home chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’
Protesters were seen carrying signs as they walked through Montclair in Schulz’s neighborhood. Some neighbors came out with their own signs to show solidarity
‘No. This is for the people so they can see even in Montclair what we are living with, even in Montclair, for two years. Susan from Marrion Road has been harassing us for two years,’ Norrinda says.
Police arrived on the scene at 12.23pm. Officers said that neither party has filed a formal complaint with the police department.
Police officials said the dispute was ‘related to work being done on the property of one of the residents’.
The outburst triggered a brief protest on Tuesday where protesters marched down the street chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’.
Fareed shared the video on Facebook on June 29 where it’s gone viral with over 11,000 views, and where commenters have dubbed Schulz ‘Permit Karen’.
‘It has happened again. White entitlement and black hate embodied in Susan who lives on Marion Road and works at the EPA, called the police to lodge a false report of assault against me when told to leave our property,’ he wrote in his post.
‘Karen’ is the nicknamed coined to white women who have called the police on black people for doing everyday activities such as kids selling lemonade, mowing the lawn, etc.
The name name sheds light on casual racism and privilege exhibited by white women.