Racist doll and noose left on doorstep investigated as hate crime

by Griffin Jones The suspect in the hate crime against Terry Williams walks up the southern side of Grove Street toward Steiner Street and Alamo Square Park. On Friday morning, April 26, a man woke up to take his dogs out for an early walk around Alamo Square park. When he opened his door, he found a bulky ziploc bag sitting just inside the front gate. Inside it was a doll painted black with a noose around its neck. The doll was covered in writing with expletives and racial slurs like “SAMBO” and “MONKEY.” In each of the doll’s hands were balls of cotton and printed out messages to “GO PICK COTTON.” Another note read: “WE FOUND YOU DICKHEAD.” “I didn’t open the bag up, I didn’t touch anything. I called the police,” said Terry Williams, 49, several hours after the incident. Williams is Black, and lives in a house on Grove and Fillmore Streets. He grew up in the neighborhood and works as a dog walker for neighborhood pets. On the midsection of the doll is a printed out photo of Williams smiling and holding a small dog. The n-word is written repeatedly over the photo. According to the...