‘You Don’t Belong Here’: Racists Warn Black Family in Long Island, NY

Police in Suffolk County, N.Y., are investigating a possible hate crime aimed at an African-American family in Lindenhurst, according to PIX11. Suggested Reading New Report Shows Less Support for Black Nonprofits Since 2020 Racial Reckoning The Story of How Atlanta Became ‘Black Hollywood’ Afrika Bambaataa and Other Black Stars We Lost in 2026 Video will…

Police in Suffolk County, N.Y., are investigating a possible hate crime aimed at an African-American family in Lindenhurst, according to PIX11.

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Ronica Copes, a resident of the Long Island suburban neighborhood, received the hate letter, written in bold capital letters, on Thursday, warning her family that they did not belong in the neighborhood because “Lindenhurst is 84% white population.” The letter writer goes on to say that her family should leave “as soon as you can.”

Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone called the author a coward in a statement released Friday.

“To the coward who committed a hate crime against an innocent family in Lindenhurst—there is no place for intolerance in Suffolk County,” he wrote, according to the television news outlet. “I know the Suffolk County Police Department will do everything possible to solve this hate crime, out you and see you punished. I stand together with all Lindenhurst residents who decry this act of hatred. This community and all of Suffolk County are better than that.”

Copes thanked supporters, adding that she would keep everyone informed of the outcome of the investigation.

Read more at PIX11.

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