Black woman whose neighbor hung KKK flag up, recounts previous gun firing incident

GROSSE POINTE PARK, MIch. (FOX 2) - Recently a Ku Klux Klan flag was directed at the home of a Black neighbor in Grosse Pointe Park sparking outrage. Now neighbors are questioning how police have dealt with the man accused of hanging the symbol of hate in his window.

"If there aren't consequences for something as serious as firing a weapon in a residential neighborhood, I feel like anything that you do, you feel like you can get away with," said Jedonna Dinges.

Dinges wonders if how police responded to her 911 call after watching her neighbor fire a gun from his back porch a few years ago, played a role in that same neighbor hanging a KKK flag facing her home last week. The case is still under review for charges by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

"I don't have the exact date but it was about five years ago, five or six years ago, my neighbor stepped out onto the back and took a gun and fired into the air multiple times, it was rapid-fire," she said.

She called the police and a dispatcher told her the gunfire was coming from Detroit, not Grosse Pointe Park.

"I said it can't be coming from Detroit: I'm watching the sparks come out of the gun that my neighbor is shooting into the air and they told me they'd send someone out," Dinges said.

But she says police did not come out that night, but the following morning.

"We don't have driveways so the cars are parked on the street so you pretty much can discern if someone's home based upon if their car is in front of their home," Dinges said. "The police came and knocked on his door, he didn't come to his door, and the police just drove away. 

Police say they're looking into Dinges' account of that incident. It is also looking into how officers handled this run back in January when Jedonna called police about someone leaving a full gasoline container in a trash bin next to her house.

Jedonna Dinges acts out how her neighbor opened fire pointing his gun at the sky in a previous incident.

Grosse Pointe Park police proved bodycamera video from the responding officers recorded this interaction:

Officer: "'Do you have any neighbors here? Is this a single family home?'"

Dinges: "Yep single family home."

Officer: "I wonder if it was like a neighbor who put it out here or something like that. I saw a gas can over there."

Dinges: "Yup. I don't know if it's his, or if he thought it was cute, I'm not accusing him, I don't know, but I know it's not ours. And I don't appreciate somebody putting a gas can, a flammable substance right next to my house."

Officer: "I agree. There is nothing we can do, because you can't get fingerprints off it, and I hate to say it but there is nothing we can do."

Dinges says her neighbor later told police he hung that KKK flag because she installed a camera that pointed towards his house.

"There are other neighbors, not only just her, but other neighbors - Black and white who feel intimidated by his behavior," said Dinges' attorney Todd Perkins. "And his behavior is unchecked, so how do they feel protected?"
 
Grosse Pointe Park police says it is committed to the safety and security of their residents. They say a public safety detail in addition to the regular one, will be assigned near the area of Jedonna Dinges' home. Police, although says it is still reviewing the gas can incident, said the officers acted in the appropriate manner. 

Furthermore in light of all that has happened, the entire department will be undergoing implicit bias, racial awareness and cultural competancy training over the next few weeks.