These gravely alarming images are forced upon me as I’m trapped inside my home every day! These daily views from my windows reflect years’ long patterns of the violent, armed stalker next door constantly monitoring my activity and harassing me from the comfort of his home/property. Endlessly robbing me of peace and security in my own home, he continues to stalk and harass me under the guise of ‘legitimate purpose’, conditions within current laws to counter terms that would otherwise protect stalking-harassment victims but instead allow stalkers next door to terrorize and assault. This language emboldens armed, dangerous stalkers while keeping their victims voiceless. 

I started this petition to protect our daughters and granddaughters, to advocate for amended domestic violence laws to include such circumstances as harassing, armed men next door. It's too late for me; despite my efforts, irreparable damages have been done as my pleas for legal protection are consistently dismissed while this dangerous, armed stalker gains more confidence to escalate and carry out his violent threats. My reports to law enforcement of stalking, assault, violent threats and reckless endangerment have been consistently dismissed, leaving my family’s and the public’s safety at risk by neglecting to investigate complaints and file the reports. 

Stalking and harassment with violent threats and assault started after: 

• I attempted to reason with him to end his cruel and reckless ‘hunting’ and target practices that, paired with his poor aim, constantly endanger lives and property of surrounding residents. He proudly voices the joy he takes in torturing the animals he stalks, using bait to lure a steady source of squirrels and birds onto his property, poaching many year-round to target practice on live animals and satisfy his daily need to torment and kill all wildlife. His inferior aim consistently results in missed or grazed targets, leaving a gross number of injured animals to suffer and constantly putting surrounding residents in fatal danger of endless stray bullets. 
• I attempted to defend his small dogs from his violent, cruel ‘training’ methods. I’ve repeatedly witnessed the angry violence he imposes on his own defenseless dogs; he hits and kicks them upon their return home after he carelessly allows them to roam free, resulting in fatal injuries for some. He replaces those with a new dog and fails to keep them safe from the same risks. Multiple complaints filed by concerned neighbors of his negligence to care for the horse(s) he abandoned on his unoccupied land miles from his home further prove the extent of his cruelty. 

He brazenly voices the pleasure he takes in tormenting me, monitoring my activity and tracking me with binoculars, disrupting sleep and disturbing the peace all day and night with the sound of his relentless gunfire near and toward my home in every direction. He follows me and patrols the public road in front of my home, armed with guns, to gain dominance and control me with fear of fatal harm. He lingers by my home and threatens to come over to beat me. He violates every barrier I install to obstruct him from monitoring and assaulting me and there remains no protection from his next bullet. He brashly voices his intentions to harass and harm me during daily discussions with his son who encourages him and often comes over to join him in harassing me. The safety of my home is constantly compromised; he terrorizes me every day and night from the comfort and ease of his home right next door. He sets live traps near my property to ensure wildlife is readily available to shoot within 10ft of my home to disrupt sleep and frighten me under the guise of legitimate purpose. He fires gunshots toward my home and public roads, a course of conduct that resulted in a bullet fired into my home nearly striking a family member.

The moment he notices my dogs outside he races toward them to provoke them. Always armed and chasing them back and forth along the property line fence, he causes them constant distress while he seeks the opportunity to warrant fatal gunfire on them. My fence confines them to stay within my property but offers no protection from his heinous intent to cause harm to my dogs and me as he exploits my commitment to protect my dogs to lure me within his reach to assault me across property lines. I had underestimated his intentions until I witnessed him hold his pistol across my fence directly on my dogs. He smirked and glared at me as I rushed to rescue them, pleading with him to put the gun away as I approached his line of fire. Only after he saw me position my phone to record him did he holster his firearm. 

The terrifying fact is that my experience is not an isolated case and sheds light on broader issues plaguing our society. Stalking and harassment often lead to violence causing serious harm or even death. Despite their efforts, women are frequently and tragically dismissed when they seek help and protection, their pleas falling on deaf ears. Our current legal framework does not provide sufficient protection against such heinous acts. The inadequacy of our laws towards harassment and stalking-related violence permits stalkers to continue their offenses while their victims live in constant fear. The reality is even grimmer when we consider the cases of stalking leading to violence that go unreported due to several factors including: underestimating the intentions and abilities of the perpetrator, fear ingrained in the victims by their tormentors, police failing to recognize stalking and harassment while dismissing victims’ reports. It’s highly probable that someone close to you has been, or will be, seriously distressed by stalking-harassment but forced by fear to stay silent as they are robbed of peace, health, and financial security. 

While stalkers consistently gain more confidence to escalate and carry out violent threats, victims endure significant financial hardships that pile up on top of the physical and emotional pain. My personal experience is a testament to these facts. 

Studies emphasize the urgent need for this dire situation to be rectified: 

• National Center for Victims of Crime, 7.5 million people are stalked each year in the United States, (National Center for Victims of Crime, Stalking Fact Sheet)

 

• NCADV, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 17 men have been victims of stalking at some point in their lives, disrupting their daily routine and causing major distress and fear (NCADV, 2020). 

 

• SPARC Fact Sheet (stalkingawareness.org)- Stalking victims suffer much higher rates of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction than people in the general population

 

• U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) – the impact on life and activities and physical health of stalking victims reported: 
  A decrease in or cessation of work or school attendance; changes in workplace, school, or career; victims moved to a new home, city, or state; sleep disturbances are widely reported; feeling excessive tiredness or weakness; sick leave was taken; victims of stalking, compared to non-victims, were more likely to report poorer physical health status.

 

• Violence Policy Center (vpc.org), Nearly Nine out of 10 Women Murdered by Men are Killed by Someone They Know and Two Thirds Die by Gunfire. The percentage of females killed by males with a firearm has increased substantially from 51.0 percent in 2011 to 66.0 percent in 2022.
   

‘Revenge Stalking’, like all other forms of stalking and harassment, never ends and causes victims significant damages, serious injuries and too often leads to death. - takes away our peace, replaced with ongoing trauma, financial and emotional distress, for years with no foreseeable end. Everything we’ve worked hard for is threatened because current laws trivialize the harm victims endure and provide leniency for the perpetrators. As someone who has experienced the profound fear and distress stalking and harassment can cause, I must raise my voice to demand a change to stop dangerous men from threatening the security and safety of our daughters, granddaughters, mothers, sisters, nieces, friends. We need stricter laws to protect women, many of whom are mothers whose focus on nurturing and providing for their children should not be diverted by constant fear and financial hardship. We request an extension of domestic violence laws to include such circumstances and amend stalking/harassment laws particularly to protect women who are stalked by armed perpetrators who have easy access to terrorize and harm us to ensure that every woman feels protected in her environment where safety and peace are not privileges but rights.

Please take a stand with us to advocate for stronger laws to stop harassment and stalking before it escalates to violence, serious harm and death.