St. Louis woman hit with felony charges after racist attack gets the viral treatment
St. Louis, Missouri - A woman now faces felony charges after a year-old video of her repeatedly attacking and harassing a Hispanic family went viral.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Judy Ann Kline (54) was charged with three felonies on Wednesday – burglary, property damage, and unlawful use of a weapon – for an incident that took place on January 5, 2022.
Kline allegedly used a hammer to break into a home in the Princeton Heights neighborhood, and proceeded to beat on a dryer in the basement with the weapon.
When confronted by the homeowners, she proceeded to yell insults while holding the hammer over her head.
Kline was arrested that day, but released without charges.
She, then, proceeded to harass the family on at least five more occasions throughout the year, showing up at their home, and yelling threats and racial slurs into their Ring doorbell camera.
Fatima Suarez (22), whose parents and siblings live at the home, has been regularly posting footage of Kline's visits on her TikTok.
In one clip that now has over four million views, she included a caption that read: "the justice system won't do anything to stop her."
Police did nothing to help the Suarez family until the video went viral
Kline was also arrested at the home on March 17, 2022, and again December 12. Both times, no charges were brought against her.
The Suarez family even managed to secure a temporary restraining order in December 2022 that was never served until February 1.
Authorities finally acted on Wednesday after TikTok user @TizzyEnt shared Fatima's clip and called for a public campaign to help end the harassment. With over five million followers, the video quickly went viral and brought massive attention to the Suarez's story.
Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s office claims that a warrant application for Kline's arrest was placed in a drop-off box for non-violent crimes, and marked as non-urgent.
While the Suarez family is glad that Kline is finally facing legal consequences, they can't help but wonder why it wasn't handled sooner.
"We don't feel safe, but we feel a little relief that if she comes back now she'll finally be arrested and treated seriously," Fatima Suarez said. "It's just messed up that it had to take a video to go viral for them to actually take it seriously."
"If the video would have never gone viral, it would have still been put to the side," she added.
As of Wednesday evening, Judy Kline had not yet been taken into custody, as police are unsure of her address. Once found, she will be arrested and held without bond.
Cover photo: Collage: The St. Louis Missouri Police Department & Screenshot / TikTok / @fatimasrz