Rayne Burse is my new favorite person. The aspiring model was taking her dog, Mojito for a walk near her fiance's home, when a woman in a striped shirt with a towel wrapped around her waist started approaching. ” I saw her coming out of her back door,” Burse told Huffington Post . “I was talking with my mom on my phone but her on hold to tell the woman, ‘I’m sorry if I’m trespassing,’ and then move away.” Burse had just moved into the neighborhood, and had never seen Dorrbecker before. “I think she was pretty racist and she was just mad that I was in her area,” she said of Maria Dorrbecker, 63. “But at the same time, I worried that she might have been just some old woman with dementia or schizophrenia or something.” The woman started pointing her finger in Burse's face, to the point where Burse had to end the call with her mom and record what was happening. Burse managed to keep her composure while asking Dorrbecker why she was so offended by Burse walking her dog, when she wasn't even on private property. “Because you’re part of south Miami,” Dorrbecker said, threatening to “report” Burse. When Dorrbecker reached for Burse's phone, Burse reacted. “I was taught to respect your elders, but I was trying to deescalate the situation before I turned on the camera, but she shut that down,” she said A scuffle ensued, and Burse gave her dog the command, “Move Mojito” (which is now a trending hashtag) before both women went their separate ways and called 911. When the police arrived, Burse showed the video, it was decided that she was simply defending herself. ““One [cop] asked if I wanted to press charges. At first, I said no, because I wanted to be rid of it. They were like, ‘Are you sure?’” Dorrbecker was ultimately charged with simple battery. “I defended myself,” Burse told Miami New Times . “Don’t try to put your hands on somebody and expect them to react cordially, especially if you were aggressive before that and they were trying constantly to resolve the situation… You’re asking for it at that point.”
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Rayne Burse: Black Model Accosted By Racist Neighbor, Records Everything
