Woman says accused gunman hated Blacks

[Nesayem]

Woman says accused gunman hated blacks
INTERNATIONAL FALLS: A former neighbor testifies that James Waltz said he'd shoot a black person.

ASSOCIATED PRESSRED LAKE FALLS, Minn. - A white man charged with trying to kill a black man had repeatedly proclaimed that he hated black people and that he wanted to shoot one, his former neighbor testified Tuesday.

James Waltz was unhappy that black people were moving into International Falls, and talked "about how much he hated them, how they didn't belong there... that he'd like to shoot one one day," Debra Carr testified.

Waltz, 67, who is white, is charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Ricky Davis, 30, who is black, outside an International Falls bar in November 2004. Davis was shot in the stomach but survived.

If the jury convicts Waltz and finds that he targeted Davis because of his race, he could draw a longer sentence.

Under questioning from prosecutor Al Zdrazil, Carr testified that in almost all her encounters with Waltz, he would eventually steer the conversation toward his hatred of black people.
"I never hear him use the words 'African-American' or the word 'black,' " Carr testified.
"Just the N-word?" Zdrazil asked.
"Yes," she answered.

Defense attorney Bruce Biggins told jurors as the trial began Monday that Waltz's use of the "racial epithet" to describe black people didn't make the shooting racially motivated. Biggins contended that Waltz shot Davis accidentally while drunk, with what he thought was an unloaded pistol. And he said Davis caused the accident by bullying Waltz and trying to wrestle his gun away.

Prosecution witness Beth Lindahl, a bartender at the Viking Lounge, testified Tuesday that on the night of the shooting, she overheard Waltz complaining to friends about the presence of Davis and about 10 other black people in the bar.
"He said that (racial epithets) don't belong here and that more of them than usual were there," Lindahl testified.

The bartender said she encountered Waltz behind the bar later, as she emptied the garbage.

"He made a statement that the black people make the white people crazy," Lindahl said. She added that she realized later that the shooting must already have occurred.

The trial is being held in Red Lake Falls because of concerns that Waltz might not get a fair trial in International Falls. Red Lake Falls is about 140 miles southwest of International Falls, which is about 95 percent white. Only 19 of the 6,605 residents counted in the 2000 census were black.

[Nesayem]

2 accused of hate-crime fire
Arson targeted Taylor family, U.S. says
January 12, 2006
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO


Two Taylor men -- angry that an African-American family moved onto their block -- hatched a plot to drive them out by burning down their house, federal officials said in an indictment released Wednesday.

In detail reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, the federal filing describes how at least two white men conspired to terrorize a Downriver family simply because of their race.

One night in July 2002, the two men -- Wayland Mullins and Michael Richardson -- gathered at the home of Mullins' mother on Ziegler Street in Taylor. Across from that home, the Doster family had recently purchased a house.

The two white men plotted that night to burn down the Dosters' house "in order to frighten them and prevent them from moving into their new home," the indictment reads.

The men are charged with violating the Dosters' civil and housing rights because of their race. They also are charged with conspiring to lie to investigators about their role in the hate crime, and the use of a fire in committing a felony. Each of the four counts carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The men "were seeking to keep minorities out of their neighborhood by the most violent means available," said U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy, the top law enforcement official in southeastern Michigan. "We have poured as many resources as we can in this particular case to try to rectify that."

After an upswing in hate crimes during the past year, Murphy has said that he wants to crack down on crimes involving bias in metro Detroit.

The Doster family put up with years of racial harassment in their home, including racially charged graffiti, the arson and insults. Fed up with the abuse, Reginald Doster, a computer administrator, and his wife and daughter moved out in August 2005.

After the two suspects held their meeting on July 28, 2002, they -- along with some unidentified men -- walked over to the Doster home. Then, "they broke a window at the back of the house, poured gasoline into the home and ignited the gasoline, causing fire and smoke damage to the house," says the indictment.

Later, the two men lied to Taylor police and the FBI, federal prosecutors said. At one point, Richardson tried to finger an innocent man in the arson.

Richardson is serving a 4-year prison sentence for misleading investigators. His attorney, James Gerometta, a federal public defender, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In the spring and summer of 2004, Richardson told agents he would try to secretly record conversations with Mullins that would make Mullins guilty. But Richardson then told Mullins he was wearing a transmitter so that he wouldn't say anything that would get him charged, the indictment says.

Mullins could not be reached Wednesday. It is unclear whether he has an attorney, Murphy said. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

More men may be involved in the arson, Murphy said, so federal agents are still investigating the case.