‘Other than her mouth, there are no weapons’: White man who called the police on golfing Black women said he’s not racist
Steve Chronister called the police twice that day.
Recently released 911 calls from a golf course in Pennsylvania reveal that the white man who called the cops on golfing Black women told the dispatcher he was not racist.
Recently released 911 calls from a golf course in Pennsylvania reveal that the white man who called the cops on golfing Black women told the dispatcher he was not racist.
Steve Chronister called the police twice in April of this year on five Black women whose only “offense” was golfing too slowly on the golf course. The dispatcher was understandably incredulous as to why Chronister was calling the police on five unarmed women at a golf course.
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“Other than her mouth, there are no weapons,” he said. When he called the police a second time, he made sure to let the dispatcher know that he was not racist despite what the women were saying to him.
We have a tough situation here with a group of golfers that decide they don’t want to abide by the rules, said Chronister. “We’re not being racist. We’re being golf course management that has to have play moving a certain way.”
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Sandra Thompson, Myneca Ojo, Sandra Harrison, Carolyn Dow, and Karen Crosby were the women in question and said they were rattled by the experience.
“It was like we were playing with targets on our backs,’ said Harrison at the time of the incident. ‘What other reason could there be other than we were guilty of being Black while golfing?”
Chronister, a former York County Commissioner, owns the golf club. His son Jordan and daughter-in-law JJ manage it.
An Apology
JJ Chronister, the wife of Chronister and co-owner of the club, says she wants to make amends with the women and meet with them and to personally apologize.
“We sincerely apologize to the women for making them feel uncomfortable here at Grandview, that is not our intention in any way,” she told the newspaper. “We want all of our members to feel valued and that they can come out here and have a great time, play golf and enjoy the experience.”
Thompson said she’s unsure if there needs to be a meeting when there’s a larger racial issue that needs to be addressed.
“There needs to be something more substantial to understand they don’t treat people in this manner,” she said.
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