New Hampshire Woman Accused of Telling 9-Year-Old Black Boy She Would ‘Kneel on His Neck’

A woman is facing a civil rights violation after allegedly threatening a 9-year-old Black boy who was playing in a park with her son in Dover, N.H. The state attorney general’s office filed the complaint in Strafford County Superior Court alleging that Kristina Graper, 51, threatened the boy and called him racial slurs after he accidentally broke her son’s toy.

According to 7 News Boston, Attorney General John M. Formella announced the civil complaint in a news release on Thursday. Graper is accused of violating the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act during the incident that occurred on May 10.

The complaint says that Graper’s son pushed the boy, who in return broke her son’s “foam missile or foam bullet.” Her son went home and told her what happened and Graper went back to the park, found the child and told him she would “kneel on his neck.” The Associated Press reports that when a witness told Graper that her undoubtedly racist behavior was unwarranted, she began yelling at them in true Karen fashion. The filing also says she called the boy a racial slur.

Here’s more about the confrontation, from AP:

Graper’s race was not mentioned in the complaint.

The child’s mother later called police. When she met with them on June 1, Graper denied saying she would kneel on the boy’s neck, but instead said words to the effect of, “you wonder why you guys get (expletive) kneeled on,” according to the complaint.

The complaint said the encounter distressed the child, who understood the comments to be a reference to the murder of George Floyd last year. He began to cry when he heard her words and has been afraid to return to the park, and will only do so “when other children are there to help keep him safe,” the complaint said.

Graper faces a maximum civil penalty of $5,000 for civil rights violations, 7 News notes. The court can also choose to add further violations of the Civil Rights Act.