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Michigan man was sentenced to five years in prison for attacking a Black teen with a bike lock. - The man pleaded guilty in connection to the hate
crime , which left an 18-year-old with broken teeth and an injured face. - Prosecutors say the man attacked the Black teens because they were using a public beach.
A Michigan man who smashed a Black teenager's face with a bike chain while last summer has been sentenced to five years in prison for a hate crime, according to the Department of Justice.
Lee Mouat, 43, of Newport, pleaded guilty in March to willfully causing bodily injury to the 18-year-old because of his race, the Free Press reported.
Prosecutors and the victim alleged that Mouat approached Devin Freelon Jr. when he was playing music at a state park with his friends, and said "N----- don't belong on this beach," The Detroit Free Press reported, based on court documents.
When Freelon was retrieving a portable speaker from a car, Mouat then yelled racial slurs at his two friends and then started walking toward him, the Free Press reported.
A fight broke out in the parking lot, where Mouat allegedly told the group "Black Lives Don't Matter, and one witness heard him say, "This is my beach, n-----!"
He then went to his car, got a bike lock, and struck Freelon Jr. in the face with it, breaking several teeth. He attempted to strike another person, but missed, the paper reported, citing on court documents.
"The defendant brutally attacked teenagers at a public beach because these young people are Black," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. "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."
Mouat is also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his committed sentence.