Federal prosecutors have charged a white Michigan man with a hate crime for allegedly breaking an African American teenager’s jaw with a bike lock.
Prosecutors charged Lee Mouat, 42, with breaking bones in teenager’s face with the bike lock after engaging in a tense confrontation with him and his friends.
According to the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Mouat confronted the teen, referred to in the document as D.F., and his friends on June 6 at a state park in Monroe County, Michigan.
He repeatedly yelled racial slurs and said that African Americans had no right to use the public beach where the incident occurred.
“N—— don’t belong on this beach,” Mouat said, according to the complaint
The teen and his friends then began yelling back at Mouat, and they began arguing. Mouat then walked to his car to grab a chain bike lock, returned to the group, and allegedly struck D.F. in the jaw. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived within several minutes of the alleged attack.
D.F. was taken to a local emergency room, and later to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was treated for a facial fracture, facial lacerations and the loss of several teeth.
Mouat was charged with “willfully causing bodily injury to an African American teenager because of the teenager’s race.” He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The news comes after a woman in New York City was charged with a hate crime in September after being captured on video throwing a bottle and yelling a racial slur at a Black runner.