A mother in Utah has spoken out after videos of her neighbor harassing her and her family went viral on social media.
The woman and her family, who requested to remain anonymous, allegedly have been the target of racial abuse by a woman named Kathryn Smith over several months. The mother turned to social media after recording dozens of incidents with Smith around her home in Midvale.
The abuse suffered by the family—which alleges there have been 81 recorded incidents involving Smith—went viral after clips of some were posted on TikTok and X, formerly Twitter, under the handle @TizzyEnt. The video can be viewed here. It contains explicit racial content.
The family has said they have "been dealing with a very vulgar and harassing neighbor since May," according to a statement from the family's lawyer viewed by ABC News. Newsweek has unable to locate Smith for comment.
"She walks by our home daily and screams racial profanities at our home," the statement said. "She spit on our vehicles, camps in front of our house in the middle of the night, messes with our vehicles, paces around in our front and backyard in the middle of the night, chases our son around the neighborhood with sticks and leaf blowers, threatens to have her cats eat our kids, assaulted my pregnant belly stating I shouldn't bring more children into the world."
In one clip, posted on the complainants' Instagram, a woman can be seen driving past a person filming and shouting a racist remark at them. Other clips that appear to have been captured by CCTV or a doorbell camera show a woman on several occasions walking or driving past and shouting obscene racist comments.
The family said they have tried several routes to get her to stop, including contacting police and attempting to engage with her.
"Hopefully a civil route and helping change policy to not allow this behavior can create change," the statement said. "We truly have no clue how to handle this. The family's lawyer, Tyler Ayres, did not clarify whether any civil action has been taken against Smith.
Who is Kathryn Smith?
"Kathryn Smith, the person in the video, has never worked for Midvale City. We would never tolerate this behavior by an employee," an Instagram post from the official page for Midvale City reads. "While privacy rules keep us from sharing the details, please be assured that the appropriate authorities are involved and taking the situation seriously."
It is unclear where the speculation that she worked for the government came from. Newsweek has been unable to contact Smith.
Midvale Mayor Marcus Stevenson addressed the videos in a statement on Instagram on Tuesday.
"It's hard to describe how disgusted I feel learning that one of our Midvale families is living in a situation where they are dealing with regular racist tirades and feeling their safety is at risk," Stevenson said.
ABC News said it has received confirmation from the Unified Police Department (UPD) of Greater Salt Lake that Smith was arrested on Tuesday evening in relation to two outstanding warrants, including a charge relating to a different neighbor. Newsweek has reached out to the UPD and Midvale Justice Court via email for clarification.
Update: Kathryn Smith was taken into custody last night on her outstanding warrants.
I’m hopeful that this is a positive step for the healing of the targeted family, the affected neighborhood, Ms. Smith, and our entire community. pic.twitter.com/wmq9Vtja9D
— Marcus Stevenson (@MidvaleMarcus) December 13, 2023Stevenson corroborated the news, confirming in a separate post on X: "Kathryn Smith was taken into custody last night [December 12] on her outstanding warrants. I'm hopeful that this is a positive step for the healing of the targeted family, the affected neighborhood, Ms. Smith, and our entire community."
Smith has two outstanding warrants on one charge of failing to register or an expired vehicle registration and one charge of speeding.
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