A hammer-wielding woman recorded on video yelling racist remarks outside a family’s St. Louis home last year was charged Wednesday with three felonies, authorities said.
Fatima Suarez, 22, who said her family has been harassed for more than a year, said Wednesday that it shouldn’t have taken a viral Ring camera video to prompt charges.
The video captured the woman appearing to hit Suarez’s front door with a hammer and shouting racist remarks. Suarez initially posted the video on TikTok, and it was reposted by a popular user this week.
“It’s ridiculous for it having to take a video going viral for them to actually do something,” Suarez said. “It’s good news that she’s finally being charged.”
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office identified the woman as Judy Ann Kline, 54, of St. Louis. She is charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree property damage and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with a break-in at Suarez’s home on Jan. 5, 2022.
Suarez said that encounter began when her father and youngest sister, then 4, heard a commotion in the basement.
Suarez’s father went to the basement and saw a stranger holding a hammer, Suarez said. The woman had entered the home by breaking a glass door, she said.
Suarez’s father closed a door leading to the basement and got out with his young daughter, Suarez said.
The woman then showed up at the front door, where a Ring video appears to show her swinging a hammer at the door and yelling racist remarks.
Suarez said the attack was racially motivated.
“The whole point of breaking in, it wasn’t even to steal anything. It was because of race,” Suarez said. She noted her family is of Mexican descent.
In the Ring video, the woman is heard demanding paperwork because “I know you didn’t buy this house — you don’t have enough money.”
In another part of the video, the woman says, “Get off my property!” Other footage shows the woman describing herself as an “American citizen, angry at you.”
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