‘She was evil’ — Brockton woman recounts racial abuse at Market Basket
A Haitian-American woman said she was on the receiving end of hateful racial slurs and vandalism to her vehicle from a still-unidentified woman at Market Basket in Brockton on Feb. 1. Now, the Brockton Area Branch NAACP is sticking up for her, calling on the Brockton Police Department to pursue justice.
BROCKTON – Having lived in Brockton for 24 years, gaining her U.S. citizenship as an immigrant from Haiti during the ’90s, Lola Jean-Baptiste said she had never experienced such vicious, visceral racism before.
The 58-year-old Brockton woman said on Feb. 1 she was at the Market Basket store next to the Westgate Mall, where she waited for a parking space to become available and eased her car into the spot. Then, suddenly, she heard yelling and honking, before seeing a woman in a vehicle that stopped behind her Mercedes Benz, angrily yelling racial slurs at her through an open window.
“She said, ‘You don’t belong here, go back to Africa where you come from, f------ n-----,’” said Jean-Baptiste, recounting the incident, when interviewed by The Enterprise on Sunday. “As soon as she started talking like that, I ran into Market Basket.”
Jean-Baptiste said she was completely shocked by the situation, but still went on with her shopping. But then, about 15 minutes later inside the store, Jean-Baptiste said she again encountered the woman, who claimed that she was waiting for the same parking space, before angrily hurling more racial slurs.
The unidentified woman, described as a white woman in her 50s with glasses and dark brown hair, then bragged about how she vandalized the 2013 model Mercedes Benz, according to Jean-Baptiste.
To top it off, Jean-Baptiste said the unidentified woman committed assault, ramming a shopping cart into her multiple times during the confrontation inside the store. During that run-in, Jean-Baptiste took cellphone pictures of the other woman, who was also taking pictures while claiming she would report the Haitian-American to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“She went back to me, ‘You f------ n-----, I just f----- up your car. I just f----- up your car,’” said Jean-Baptiste, recalling the incident. “She said, ‘I’m taking your picture to send to ICE.’ I said, ‘What did you do?’ I followed her. And as soon as I get my phone, she saw me, she hit me with a cart. My telephone fell on her cart. When I tried to pick up my phone inside her cart, she yelled, ‘Help, help!’ ... It’s so painful. It’s so humiliating. I don’t even want to talk about this. It’s so tough to talk about.”
At that point, two women from the Market Basket staff came over and escorted Jean-Baptiste to pay for her things and get to her car, the Brockton woman said. Outside, she found that her Mercedes Benz was keyed, with scratches all over the hood and driver’s side door.
But Jean-Baptiste said the Market Basket employees allowed the other woman to finish her shopping and get away, without taking down her license plate number. Jean-Baptiste also said that since then, Market Basket has been unwilling to provide her with surveillance images or information about the identify of the other woman.
Jean-Baptiste said she reported the incident to police, including an officer who responded to the scene. However, without the license plate number, the assailant remains unidentified, Jean-Baptiste said.
Brockton police filed a small report about the incident, listing one offense, malicious destruction of property under $1,200. The police report does document the racist language allegedly used by the unidentified woman. The two-paragraph police report states that no criminal charges are being filed at this time.
But since then, the story has blown up on social media, after a post detailing the incident was shared hundreds of times, since it was published on Facebook by Jean-Baptiste’s daughter, 24-year-old Corie Blain. The post included a couple photos taken by Jean-Baptiste of the alleged assailant, showing her pushing a shopping cart, wearing a New England Patriots shirt.
“I’m grateful I made it public. At same time, it does expose you to more hate,” said Blain, noting that she received several racist messages in her Facebook inbox after posting her mother’s story, including one calling her mother a “c--- monkey” who deserved the racial abuse. “Racism shouldn’t exist in Brockton. It shouldn’t exist in this country at all. I went to Catholic school and my parents took care of me so I would be educated, so I wouldn’t perpetuate that kind of hatred. It really boggles my mind.”
And the Brockton Area Branch NAACP has since taken up Jean-Baptiste’s cause, calling on the Police Department to get to the bottom of the incident, identify the other woman and charge her not only with malicious damage to property, but also assault and a hate crime, due to the racist motivation allegedly behind the attack. Phyllis Ellis, president of the Brockton NAACP branch, said an initial police report summarizing the incident was insufficient because it didn’t document the alleged assault involving the shopping cart, and it didn’t include any finding of a hate crime. Ellis sent a letter to Mayor Bill Carpenter and Police Chief John Crowley, urging them to step up the investigation and to prosecute hate crimes.
“The mayor responded and said it’s an ongoing investigation and that this sort of thing should never happen,” said Ellis, speaking to The Enterprise on Monday. “I’m baffled. I’m upset. I know this goes on all over the place all the time, but when it’s right in your back yard over a parking space? Come on. It’s unbelievable. I’m waiting for the results.”
Jean-Baptiste, Blain and Ellis each said that they wished Market Basket did more to intervene when racist behavior took place in their store, and they said the store should do more to help identify the woman who allegedly spewed the racist vitriol.
The Enterprise reached out to Market Basket on Monday seeking comment. A message was left with a secretary for David McLean, operations manager for Market Basket, but he has yet to respond.
A police spokesman said the case is being considered a potential hate crime, that the police report could be expanded with additional information, and that the incident remains under investigation. Police said they are trying to identify and find the woman accused of assault, vandalism and racist behavior.
“Police are reviewing this as a possible hate crime and are actively seeking to identify the suspect,” said Darren Duarte, spokesman for the Police Department. “Police will file an arrest report/court complaint once the suspect’s identity is confirmed and the investigation is complete. The incident report referred to in this case and filed on the day of the complaint is not an indication of final charges nor does it contain all evidence gathered up to this point.”
Jean-Baptiste said the incident left her rattled, unable to sleep for several days, recalling the look of hatred she saw in the eyes of a woman who was degrading her and telling her she doesn’t belong in this country.
“I’ve been in this country for so long. I’m a U.S. citizen,” said Jean-Baptiste, a mother of two. “This has never happened to me. That’s why it hit me so hard. ... I thought everyone was human. She was evil, the way she said it, with this anger she had about someone she didn’t even know. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it. I belong here.”
https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20190211/she-was-evil---brockton-woman-recounts-racial-abuse-at-market-basket
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