Comments by Melissa House

Three comments, seen below as two JPEG images, were submitted a little past midnight (EST) on or near 12 December 2013 to James Renner's now-archived or deleted blog.

Below is a screen-shot of a reader's comment that appeared on the "Not Without Peril" blog, apparently posted at nearly the same time as the above comments on Renner's blog; certainly within a day. Because the screen-shot is very difficult to read, a transcript appears below it.

TRANSCRIPT OF ABOVE SCREEN-SHOT:

heyjude32 says:

December 12, 2013 at 1:38 AM
I live next door to Alden , Hadley Housing Authority . State Trooper investigators came to my door , around August 18-22,2013 . Now I find out why , and you think that when I ask them if he is dangerous or violent , is my right to know ??? I told them about my wall , and the stench of ”death” for months that made me ill . Alden had a note on his front door , telling anyone if they need access to the basement to use someone else’s apt. to go through . I have reported him to DHCD , and called the police tonight , none of them have done anything . This man has a criminal history , then he never should have been approved for an apt. rent -free courtesy tax-payers are us . I knew someting was off with him . He tried to romance me , and God was looking out for me because I gave him a big REJECT . Neighbors joked that maybe the odor is his ex -wife through the walls . Maybe he killed her , while up there in Greenfield Wow , state-subsidized housing , filled with criminals & violent offenders !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s Hadley for you . DHCD & Hadley Housing want these scum to run the show around here , takes the focus off of them lazy garbage . Police , what a waste of tax money . Safety is the farthest priority . Deranged lunatics residing here and they get the full package . Alden complained about not being able to find a job , he said it was age discrimination . Either they cori’d him and turned a blind eye , or didn’t bother at all . Either way , I want to sue for life endangerment . I live in between to maniacs , the other jerk beat my pumpkin in after beating another tennat’s skull down .

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About two months after the above comments were submitted, a couple of guys parked squarely in front of my apartment, right at the end of my walkway, making no secret of their presence.

They had apparently come to talk with my next-door neighbor, Melissa House - on 09 February 2014, no less, from roughly 11:17 AM to 1:31 PM. 

Friends, detectives, or journalists of some kind? Hard to tell which for sure, but given the extreme infrequency of visitors to any of the four residents of the building, it seems only natural to wonder whether it was related to the posts about me by someone who, in all likelihood, was my neighbor. 

Stupid, stupid me, but I never photographed these two guys themselves, only the vehicle when it was unoccupied.

Later, after I became more familiar with who Tim Pilleri and Lance Reenstierna were, I thought maybe it was they, but according to Tim, apparently not.

I did manage to photograph their vehicle. So, there's that at least.

Sounds like if you say anything online, you'll be

investigated.

Lesson from Hadley Police

A while back, Hadley MA police officer Doug Costa taught me a valuable lesson about how the law actually works.

A half-dozen or so of the residents at Senior Housing regularly play their TVs, radios, or stereos much louder than allowed by law.

Late one night, one of my neighbors was playing his/her stereo fairly loud, as was his/her frequent habit. Since I enjoy music myself, I figured it would be okay for me, too, like s/he and the other residents, to play my own music a little on the loud side.

My neighbor turned his/her stereo off and then complained to the Hadley police about the music coming from my apartment.

Doug Costa showed up, said I was violating the town’s anti-noise by-law, and gave me a verbal warning, which is routine policy for first offenses. Second offense, you get arrested.

I asked Costa whether I could complain about my neighbor’s consistently loud music just as s/he had complained about mine. Costa said my complaint would be regarded as retaliation. In other words, in their eyes I would be using police to harass my neighbor and therefore I would be guilty of criminal harassment. 

The result of this is that my neighbor was then free to play his/her music or TV or radio as loud and as long at any hour of the day or night s/he pleased, comfortable in the knowledge that if I complained about it, I, not s/he, could get arrested. 

The logic used by law enforcement (LE) – and by victim-advocate groups with which LE often works closely - goes like this:

 - Person A creates, legally or illegally, one or more problems for Person B. 

 - Person B then is regarded by LE as potentially dangerous because it is assumed by LE that person B may retaliate against Person A. 

As this example, using only an anti-noise by-law, shows, an attempt by Person B to see the law applied equally and impartially to Person A can immediately become regarded by LE as a form of criminal harassment of Person A by Person B.

Nice trick. But that’s the upside down world in which we now live. Sure am glad I'm not Petrit Vasi.