A Michigan man has been handed five years in prison for assaulting a Black teenager with a bike chain at a beach in Monroe and repeatedly using racial slurs as he did so, prosecutors announced.
Lee Mouat, 43, of New Port had pleaded guilty in March to wilfully causing bodily injury to an 18-year-old because of his race.
According to court documents, the incident took place at Sterling State Park on Lake Eerie in June 2020 when Mouat used multiple racial slurs while confronting a group of Black teenagers ostensibly for playing loud music.
He yelled “N****** don’t belong on this beach” and “Black lives don’t matter” at the group in a confrontation that came less than two weeks after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death had highlighted the systemic racism and police brutality meted out against Black Americans, leading to a country-wide protest movement.
Mouat was arrested shortly after he struck 18-year-old Devin Freelon Jr in the face with a bike lock, knocking out several of his teeth, lacerating his face and mouth, and fracturing his jaw. He had also attempted to strike another Black teenager with the same bike lock.
“The defendant brutally attacked teenagers at a public beach because these young people are Black,” said assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Hate-fueled violent crimes like this have no place in our communities. Protecting Americans from hate crimes is a top priority of the Justice Department and we will use every tool available to bring perpetrators to justice.”
“Our office is committed to protecting the rights of all citizens, and prosecuting hate crimes is a top priority,” said acting US attorney Saima Mohsin for the Eastern District of Michigan. “The cowardly and unprovoked attack on this young victim is terribly disturbing. Every individual citizen has the right to not live in fear of violence or attack based on the colour of their skin.”
