'Horrific': Dispute At Laundromat Was Discrimination, Woman Says

SAG HARBOR, NY — A young woman turned to social media this weekend to shed light on an incident in Sag Harbor that she believes was racism-based and that left her and her little brother deeply shaken.

Nia Dawson, 22, of Bridgehampton, said she and her 11-year-old brother Eddie were doing the wash at the Sag Harbor Launderette on Main Street and were sitting on a bench outside when the owner of the business, William Tabert, asked to sit on the bench next to them. Dawson said she explained that they were social distancing.

Tabert began yelling, she said. When she tried to re-enter the store, he blocked her and told her to "go around back." When she continued inside, she said, "He shoved me hard enough that I lost my footing."

Dawson's brother was filming the incident and she called the police, Dawson said.

According to Sag Harbor Police, the incident took place Friday at 6 p.m. when a call came in about a dispute at the launderette.

A prior verbal dispute about social distancing had become physical, police said. Dawson, a customer, tried to enter the business to retrieve her belongings when she was "shoved" by William A. Tabert, 61, police said.

Tabert, of Hamptons Bays, was arrested and charged with second-degree harassment, physical contact, a violation, police said. He was released on an appearance ticket to appear at Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on September 10, police said.

Tabert was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.

On social media, Dawson described the incident in her own words and said she and her brother were sitting outside the laundromat, eating frozen yogurt and laughing, when Tabert asked to sit on the bench beside them.

"Not only was there barely enough space but due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, coupled with my younger brother still being too young to receive the vaccine, we have been doing our best to social distance, especially with strangers. I stated, 'I’m sorry, sir, we’re actually practicing social distancing,' hoping that this would be the conclusion of a quick and uncomfortable encounter," she said.

According to Dawson, he replied: “Are you kidding me right now? This is my store and I can’t sit on my bench?”

She added: "I began to realize that this situation could and likely would escalate, and my heart began to race. In the interest of protecting my brother and avoiding all confrontation, I nervously offered to move to the empty bench right next to the one we were sitting on. He ignored this peace offering and continued to yell as he walked back into the laundromat."

When the timer on her phone rang and Dawson realized she needed to get her clothing, she called her mother, sister, and aunt on FaceTime and kept them on the phone "because I knew that this was not going to go well. My brother and I put our frozen yogurt down in the car and I explained to him that this could go terribly wrong but we needed to retrieve our belongings," she said.

Her brother then began to record the incident on his phone.

Tabert, she said, was waiting for her at the door.

"He does not let me in and shadows my every move. As I try to go to the right, he blocks me off. As I try to go to the left, he does it again. He tells us 'You need to go around back,' and then follows up with 'everyone in here is social distancing.' I stated that I had clothes inside and he continued to antagonize me. He asked me, 'Where? In the back?' and continued to pressure me to only enter through the back of the building. Memories of stories my late grandfather told me began flooding back in this moment. Stories about the many times he, as a Black man in predominantly white spaces, had to enter through the back of stores and restaurants."

Next, Dawson said, Tabert shoved her, hard enough so that she lost her footing.

"I pushed my weight forward and made it inside with my brother close behind, still recording on his phone. He then shouted, 'Did you see her just push me?' as I entered to gather my belongings and leave, even though they were wet. He continued to shout things at me."

Dawson said she then called the police.

"He followed me to the back and yelled, 'You’re full of it girl. You’re full of it!' I decided that I would leave and come back for the clothes later because I feared what he would do next," Dawson said.

She and her brother waited for the police to arrive. "Upon arrival, I gave a statement and he was then arrested. As he was being detained, he stared me down, yelled obscenities, and lunged in my direction. The level of emotional trauma that this event caused myself, my family, and more specifically my little brother, is horrific."

That's why she decided to share her story, Dawson said. "Exposing the wrongdoings and discrimination is where we start. Especially for those who refuse to see and believe what is right in front of them," she said.

Speaking with Patch, Dawson said she has encountered "countless microaggressions. I have been called the N-word." Just a few days earlier, she and her brother were at a pizzeria in the Hamptons when a white man in a truck "made a gun with his hands and pretended to shoot us out the window."

When her brother asked about why it had happened, Dawson said: "In that minute, you don't have the words. You don't know why someone has that hatred in their hearts."

The same thing happened to her father during a rally for former President Donald Trump last year, Dawson said, a person pretended to have a gun and aimed it at him, while they were sitting in traffic.

Of the incident at the laundromat, Dawson said, "It's the perfect storm. One would immediately think to boycott that business, but in my mind, thinking about all the individuals that would be impacted by that decision, those who don't have the means to go to another laundromat — some people are walking because they have no means of transportation and don't have funds — if that place shuts down it impacts them. But sometimes that tidal wave is necessary and things have to be done," she said.

Her grandfather, who was born in the South, was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in the Hamptons, with many properties in the area, she said. "I'll bet he didn't think we would be dealing with this in 2021, after all the hard work he put in so his family would have a good life. He would be disgusted that it was essentially all in vain. That people are holding generations' worth of hatred in their hearts for people that don't look like them."

Describing the years of microaggressions, Dawson, who studied digital communications in college, said: "It's like paper cuts. Little slices in your skin. Over time, if you keep getting cut you're going to get a nasty scar."

Dawson said she is thankful that things didn't take a darker turn, "that we are here to tell the story," she said. "You always read these things or see them on the news and think, 'that poor family.' Until it hits home. This meteor has hit right on our house."

Dawson thanked the community for a huge outpouring of support and for rallying behind her and her family.

"We are opening the doors and these conversations need to happen," she said.

She discussed the many who posted on social media in outrage after George Floyd was killed by a police officer last year. "It was easy for everyone to put a black square on social media. Now we have to back that up with action. Now is the time. I'm here to tell the story and we need to enact change — and expose the evils."

On Facebook, Dawson made an appeal: "I ask that you share my experience, in hopes that these kinds of unfortunate events come to end. I am combating vulnerability with courage and the goal to hold aggressors, oppressors, and everyone in between, accountable. I hope to help those who have experienced similar situations in 'the Hamptons' and beyond."