Neighborly disputes around music volume are pretty common and usually uneventful. However, one Ohio man has caught the internet’s attention for playing KKK music loudly enough for his Black neighbor to hear it.
Despite the man who was filming’s attempts to communicate with his neighbor about his musical choices, the man playing the music declined to interact with the other individual. In all fairness, he was already being filmed at that point. It’s possible that he would have agreed to a neighborly discussion if he weren’t being recorded. Or, perhaps, he has a habit of ignoring his Black neighbor altogether – it’s unclear from the video what motivated his silence.
The original clip was posted on Instagram and is accompanied by the caption, “My racist [expletive] neighbor. He thinks it’s coo to play KKK music while we’re outside.” The comments overwhelmingly supported the man who posted the video.
Suggestions such as “I would’ve been out there dancing to piss him off every time,” and “Just call the police for disturbing the peace and hate speech,” flooded the comments section. However, some people did caution, “I know danger when I see it. Stop playing with him. Matter of fact, what is your local news station? I’mma keep an eye out.“
The sentiments over on Reddit were similarly supportive of the neighbor who was filming. One person wrote, “Racists are getting more and more bold. That means [expletive] gonna get worse.” Someone else echoed, “This guy can’t even enjoy his own back deck, having to hear that hate.“
For what it’s worth, the man filming does have a legal leg to stand on, according to Ohio state law. The fact that the music was so loud it could be heard from another property is considered Disorderly Conduct – regardless of what the music is. Section 2917.11 of Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules states, “making unreasonable noise” can result in legal consequences.
Similarly, Section 2927.12 of the same website covers Ethnic Intimidation. It is unclear whether or not playing racist music would fall under this category, but it’s enough of a legal gray area that the man can reasonably inquire about it.
While the situation between the two neighbors certainly seems to be volatile, the man filming the incident can rest assured that whoever inhabits the neighboring house next will likely treat him better. In fact, many internet users expressed a desire to purchase that house from the offending neighbor in order to live next door to the OP. If that were to happen, it’d likely be the most unusual story of neighborly camaraderie of all time.
