A Michigan man has accepted a plea deal after police say an exchange with a Black man turned racist and violent. It all started when the alleged attacker, Wilfred Francis Hutson IV, spotted a Black man sitting in his own car.
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According to an affidavit obtained by MLive.com, an unnamed Black man was visiting a friend and waiting inside his vehicle on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 15. But while he was simply minding his business, Hutson allegedly confronted the man claiming he was staring at him. That’s when the 36-year-old white man reportedly began hurling racial slurs at the Black man, eventually prompting the victim to drive off. But that’s not where the story ends.
From there, Hutson reportedly chased after the victim, before the man stopped his car and got out. Hutson reportedly rushed at him and physically attacked him, according to Walker, Michigan, police. When officials arrived to the scene, per the outlet, Hutson didn’t even bother to stop spewing racial slurs targeted at the Black man. In fact, police say Hutson also claimed he was going to “shoot the neighbors” if they entered his yard and “set their house on fire,” according to the affidavit.
The white man was eventually arrested and charged with felony ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor assault and battery, according to MLive.com. Hutson accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to the felony racism charge in exchange for the dismissal of the assault charge, officials said.
Prosecutors in Kent County, where the incident took place, don’t file the felony racism charge often. Hutson’s plea only makes three people who have been charged with felony ethnic intimidation in Kent County since 2023, per the outlet.
Huston did not know the victim before he attacked him, according to police. Now, he is set to appear in court again on March 12 for his sentencing.
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