Detroit, MI — Marc Peeples, a 33-year old Black man from Detroit, is filing a l*awsuit against three white women who repeatedly reported him to p*olice just to get rid of him in a public park. In the case described as “gardening while black,” the women falsely a*ccused him of being a p*edophile and even th*reatening to k*ill them.
Peeples claims in the l*awsuit filed in Michigan state c*ourt last week that the three women — Deborah Nash, Martha Callahan, and Callahan’s granddaughter, Jennifer Morris — “conspired to a*ccuse” him of “various c*rimes that they knew or had reason to know he did not commit” to ultimately get him “i*ncarcerated or seriously i*njured by l*aw enforcement.”
Peeples said it started when he built a small community garden at Hunt Park, a public park in their neighborhood. He also helped other people cut grass and secure their abandoned property.
Apparently, the three women “had prior plans” for the park and “did not want [Peeples] in the area at all,” the l*awsuit stated. So they filed numerous p*olice reports from July 2017 to May 2018 a*ccusing Peeples of several c*rimes, including s*tealing from homes, carrying w*eapons, and th*reatening to b*urn down their homes and k*ill them.
In another i*ncident, while Peeples was teaching home-schooled students about gardening, Callahan called 911 to report that he was a c*onvicted p*edophile who was not legally allowed to be around children. That resulted to him being a*rrested in front of the children and ch*arged with three c*ounts of stalking.
After Peeples was a*rrested and banned from the park, the women destroyed what he planted in the garden and requested permission from the city to “implement their own projects” at the Hunt Park.
His case was eventually dismissed at his t*rial in October 2018 where the j*udge described the case as “disgusting” and “a waste of the c*ourt’s time and resources.” Despite that, the three women continued spreading false a*ccusations against Peeples.
The l*awsuit accuses the women of malicious p*rosecution, a*buse of process, intentional i*nfliction of emotional distress, d*efamation and civil distress. It also claims he suffered economic injury and demands the women pay $300,000 in damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and other costs.
Meanwhile, Peeples is now planning to establish a new garden. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support him in further improving the farm and other expenses. For four months, donations keep on flowing and he has so far garnered about $55,000, which is over 10 times bigger than the initial $5,000 goal.