A since-removed Craigslist post attributed to someone living in Norfolk neighborhood of Larchmont-Edgewater has riled up residents who say the sentiments expressed therein are not their own.
Writing under the headline "Reminder: Overage Trick Or Treaters Stay Out!," the anonymous poster starts by ranting about "kids older than twelve going house to house for free candy."
We hate seeing kids older than twelve going house to house for free candy. Doing so is illegal and this year we will be calling the police on you bastards. Overage trick or treating is a Class 4 misdemeanor and carries a $250 fine. This will also go on your criminal record if you don’t have one already.
Were it to have ended there, the post, found in the site's "Rants and Raves" section, would be acceptably grouchy.
But it doesn't end there. Instead, it goes from a rant, to a rave, to unabashedly racist:
And you niglets, stay the hell out! We’re a white neighborhood and we don’t want you baboons here!! You little turds better think twice going into my neighborhood or you will be legally punished.
"That`s awful, that`s awful," Larchmont-Edgewater resident Ainel Alerth told NewsChannel3. "When I see that, I don`t know where it comes from, where all the anger comes from. Why are we using these words?"
Another resident, Timo Mitchell, agreed with the poster insofar as overage trick-or-treaters were concerned, but less so about the rest.
"I can understand if you have a 16 or 17-year-old show up without a costume, but just a blanket statement to say all kids of different colors can't come in?" said Mitchell. "I don`t think that is appropriate for this neighborhood, because we are very eclectic here."
Though Larchmont-Edgewater is far from diverse, Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos told WTKR that hardly justified discrimination.
"You can't discriminate against someone being in a particular neighborhood, the law doesn’t address that," Amos said.