The exterior of Terry Williams’ household is now covered with neighbors’ handwritten signs stapled to the outside.
He said he still can’t believe it was just a few days ago when flames shot out the windows of his family home.
His elderly parents were in the burning house and were rescued by firefighters. Terry’s mother is still in hospital, while neighbors have taken Terry and his three dogs in. In the meantime, they’ve also set up a GoFundMe page for the family.
Over the past month and a half, Terry says he has received racist threats and harassment.
“Every time a new threat comes in, the rhetoric escalates about how they’re going to hurt him, get him or kill him…,” said Teddy Butler, a relative of Terry.
Fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused the house fire and are not connecting the threats to the fire at this time.
Terry was at City Hall when the fire broke out, speaking with city leaders who were trying to draw attention to racist attacks against him and his family.
“We’ve been a part of this community for over 50 years and we’re not going away,” Teddy Butler said. “This can be fixed; we can fix this. This is nothing, it’s the fact that you’re trying to drive my family out of the house.”
Neighbors say Terry and his family are fixtures in the neighborhood, having lived in their home for more than 50 years.
“I watched Terry grow up…me and my brothers…and his mom is like my aunt…and his dad is cool as hell,” said longtime neighbor Sean Williams.
Terry says he has no plans to leave, but instead plans to rebuild the house and get his parents back in their home.
“I am blessed to have neighbors and friends who care for us,” Terry said.
