"A new Netflix documentary, The Perfect Neighbor, has introduced millions of viewers to Marion County, Florida, detailing the slow drip of death that was visited upon one neighborhood through the lens of nearly two years of police body camera footage. Directed by Spike Lee protegè, Geeta Ghanbir, the film explores how Susan Lorincz, a White baby boomer held her"
"Just as with any horror film, viewers are fixed with the feeling of wondering why someone positioned to help, won't help. But then, as you continue to watch-you are constantly reminded this is not a horror film. This was real life horror. And you are reminded that, in this country, not all hate wears hoods. And in this country, "public safety" is a wonderful Jedi-mind trick which made it synonymous with law enforcement."
Marion County, Florida experienced prolonged racialized harassment when White neighbor Susan Lorincz targeted a mostly Black neighborhood through verbal threats, physical aggression, and repeated police calls. Lorincz called police six times over two years to complain about Black children playing, using law enforcement responses to intimidate families. Neighbors lived on eggshells as children were threatened and subjected to violence. On June 2, 2023, after an alleged skate-throwing incident at a 12-year-old, neighbor Ajike Owens confronted Lorincz and was shot through her door. The sequence demonstrates how appeals to "public safety" can be deployed to harm Black communities.
Read at Portland Mercury
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