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A Black farming couple in Colorado was arrested after alleging racism, harassment, and vandalism against their predominately white neighbors.
According to 9News, El Paso County farmers Courtney and Nicole Mallery were arrested Monday (February 6) on felony warrants for stalking.
However, for the past two years, the couple has accused their white neighbors of targeting their farm, Freedom Acres Ranch, through acts of racism, vandalism, and mutilation of their livestock.
"We are stalked, we are harassed, we are chased, we are followed, there's been spray paint where they put 'n*****' on items on our home," Nicole Mallery told CBS News.
According to online court records obtained by 9News, Courtney Mallery has sought out six restraining orders against people in El Paso County due to vandalism on his property and attacks on his animals. Records also show, however, that a woman applied in December for a restraining order against the farmer who she accused of stalking and harassing her.
Monday's arrests prompted a response from the NAACP.
“I would really hope that the El Paso County Sheriff's department and several others in rural areas understand that we're taking this very seriously,” Portia Prescott, the president of the Rocky Mountain NAACP, said in a statement. “It needs to be taken a lot more seriously than they have taken it in the past."
The Mallerys have also accused an El Paso County deputy of instigating the racist attacks.
“Unfortunately, there are still corrupt police and racist people out there who are trying to block minority farmers from using their agricultural land because of their race. In Colorado Springs, the Mallerys are the most recent victims of this blatant racism and vitriol,” a statement from the Mallerys reads.
The El Paso County Sheriff's office "vehemently" denied the allegations of racism, noting that it has responded to 170 calls and 19 complaints involving the Mallerys over the past two years.
“Each of these complaints were individually and thoroughly investigated,” the sheriff's office said in a news release.
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