{"id":33888,"date":"2024-05-23T12:09:18","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T19:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33888"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:09:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T19:09:19","slug":"fire-torches-home-of-black-dog-walker-targeted-by-racist-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/05\/23\/fire-torches-home-of-black-dog-walker-targeted-by-racist-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire torches home of Black dog walker targeted by racist threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/strong> MAY 21, 2024 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firefighters
The home of Terry Williams on fire on May 21, 2024. Photo courtesy of San Francisco Fire Department.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just weeks after he began receiving racist threats delivered to his doorstep, both of dog walker Terry Williams\u2019 parents had to be rescued from their home after a sudden fire this morning engulfed the building in flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams\u2019 mother, who is nearly 80, had to be carried out of the building, and his father was rescued as he was trying to escape the blaze, witnesses said. The fire department received a call about the fire at 11:31 a.m. and arrived shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried to run through the fire to try to get my mom. They stopped me at the front door like, \u2018You can\u2019t get in, you can\u2019t get in, we\u2019re trying to get her out,’\u201d said Williams, who was at City Hall when he began getting calls and rushed home. Williams\u2019 nephew, who also lives in the building, was not home either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both his parents were admitted to the hospital, according to San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Baxter, one with serious injuries. Williams\u2019 father was scheduled to be released the same day, Baxter later said, while his mother would be held for a day for observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dog
Terry Williams speaks with neighbors and friends as firefighters put out a blaze at his family home nearby on May 21, 2024. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearly an hour after the fire broke out, Williams was still standing outside with his three rottweilers, staring up at his childhood home as the dozen fire vehicles and 40 firefighters worked to control the blaze. He occasionally threw up his hands to his head in despair. At one point, a firefighter shook Williams\u2019 hand and said, \u201cWe tried our best, man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passersby and neighbors who had gathered at the scene came by to reassure and console the popular dog walker, offering him a place to stay or a meal \u2014 many already knew him. Williams, for his part, could be heard saying he felt like he let his family down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baxter said the fire department has opened an investigation into the fire, as it does with any fire that has no obvious cause, or involves rescues or injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The house next door, which had a \u201cNo to racism\u201d sign in the window, was slightly damaged but will be inhabitable later today, Baxter said, though three additional residents have been temporarily displaced<\/a>. Williams\u2019 home, however, was charred on the inside, and the four family members and three dogs who live there will be displaced for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firefighters
The home of Terry Williams near Alamo Square after it was gutted by a fire on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The conflagration came just three weeks after Williams, who is Black, first received mail at his home featuring racist slurs: Two packages were sent to Williams containing a caricatured Golliwog<\/a>-like doll with a noose around its neck. The first doll, received in late April, was scribbled with racist epithets<\/a> \u2014 the n-word, \u201cSambo,\u201d and other, archaic terms \u2014 and threatened the dog walker directly: There is a \u201ctarget on your back,\u201d a message on the doll read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams then received a second, very similar doll in early May featuring Ku Klux Klan imagery<\/a> and more threats: \u201cWe will continute [sic] to exterminate you n\u2014 slaves!\u201d the doll read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police have not made any arrests in the investigation, which they originally classified as a hate crime. Williams also filed a report with the FBI after he received additional threats in the mail. Supervisor Dean Preston, who was also at the scene of the fire, has a resolution condemning the racist acts up for a vote at the Board of Supervisors this afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow dare they, whoever they are, come and attack my elderly parents?\u201d said Letisha Humphrey, Williams\u2019 older sister, who rushed over to her family home from where she lives in Bayview. \u201cI have a few other choice things I would love to say, but it might not be appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I smelled somebody smoking, and then the next thing I know, the fire trucks were showing up,\u201d said Daniel Sieberling, who is an old friend and neighbor of Williams. They live close enough that he can wave to the dog walker from his window. He wiped away tears as he described the scene: \u201cIt came up quick, the truck showed up quick, and they put it out pretty quick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he knew it, Seiberling saw the flames coming out of the windows, then Williams\u2019 mother being carried out of the building. Another neighbor said she saw Williams\u2019 father get slightly burned on his head as he attempted to leave the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than two hours after the fire was reported, firefighters were still pulling charred debris out of the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firefighters
Firefighters remove charred furniture and debris from Terry Williams\u2019 home on May 21, 2024. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anti-Black crimes make up the lion\u2019s share of hate crimes reported in California, according to the state attorney general\u2019s report on hate crimes for 2022<\/a>, the latest year for which data was available. Anti-Black incidents made up some 31 percent of all hate crimes reported in the state, and half of those were driven by racial animus. The number of anti-Black incidents grew some 27 percent from the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of both earlier incidents, Williams, 49, said he and his family were scared for their lives. His family has been in the neighborhood for decades and Williams was born and raised there; he runs a dog-walking business and is a regular at the park where he is known as the \u201cMayor of Alamo Square\u201d by locals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His elderly parents lived in the unit above him. But after Williams received the racist packages, he asked both of them to leave the city for their safety and said he has been keeping track of his nephew\u2019s whereabouts, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 neighbors rallied around Williams<\/a> in mid-May<\/a>, saying they were appalled by the racist threats. The Rev. Amos Brown, the president of the local NAACP chapter, condemned the \u201cbigotry, nooses, Black dolls and all the paraphernalia\u201d that were still targeting Black people; Preston, who represents the area, donated $1,000 to a fundraiser<\/a> in Williams\u2019 name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Stafford, a nearby longtime resident, said \u201cit\u2019s hard to see it as a coincidence\u201d that a fire would break out so soon after the neighborhood rallied to support Williams. Instead, he said, it seemed like an escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alamo Square area, despite its proximity to the historically Black Fillmore, is now a majority white neighborhood: The census tracts<\/a> immediately surrounding the park are about 54 percent white and just 10 percent Black. Citywide, Black residents comprise just under 6 percent of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. The initial fundraiser to support the Williams family is here<\/a>, and a new fundraiser to support them to rebuild after the fire is here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE ON TERRY WILLIAMS<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"After<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After devastating fire, dog walker and his family pick up the pieces <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"SFPD<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SFPD investigates racist doll, threats at Black dog-walker\u2019s home as hate crime<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Dog<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dog walker receives another racist, threatening package in Alamo Square<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Alamo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alamo Square neighbors rally to support Black dog walker after racist packages<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

eleni@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER. Eleni reports on policing in San Francisco. She first moved to the city on a whim more than 10 years ago, and the Mission has become her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.More by Eleni Balakrishnan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN MAY 21, 2024 (MissionLocal.org) Just weeks after he began receiving racist threats delivered to his doorstep, both of dog walker Terry Williams\u2019 parents had to be rescued from their home after a sudden fire this morning engulfed the building in flames. Williams\u2019 mother, who is nearly 80, had… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33889,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33888\/revisions\/33889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}