An Oregon man is facing charges after police said he made gun threats and racist remarks to a Black teenager who rode a bike past the man’s home last week.
Michael James Black, 64, was arrested and charged with second-degree intimidation and menacing in the Portland suburb of Gresham in the May 10 incident in which he shouted threats and racial slurs at a teenage boy, according to OregonLive.
Michael Black, 64, claimed the teen came on his property and admitted to using racist language. (Image courtesy of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
“He called him a racial slur, and said he was going to blow his head off,” said Gresham Police spokesman Ben Costigan,
Police said the 14-year-old was riding his bike home with friends after basketball practice and briefly rode in circles in a cul-de-sac to let his friends, who were on foot, catch up.
That’s when Black, who was seated in a chair in the carport, yelled that the area was private property and proceeded to shout racial slurs and threats at the teen. The boy told police he was afraid Black would get a gun, so he rode home to tell his mother, who then contacted police.
When officers questioned Black about the incident, he claimed the teen came onto his property, argued with him and flipped him the bird. He admitted to using racist language during the incident and said he thought the teen was armed with a knife, though he couldn’t see well because the boy was at least 30 feet away.
The teen and his family live near Black, but they do not know each other, police said.
Black has been arrested in the past, but not for similar crimes.
