A Michigan man was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison after he struck a Black teen in the face with a bike lock because of his race.
Lee Mouat, 43, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from last year when he confronted a group of Black teenagers in Sterling State Park in Monroe, Michigan, and struck 18-year-old Devin Freelon Jr. in the head with a bike lock, and attempted to strike a second teen. Mouat also told Freelon, “Black lives don’t matter” during the attack. Mouat pleaded guilty in March to a federal hate crime and admitted to willfully causing bodily injury to the teen.
“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 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.”
At about 7:45 p.m. on June 6, 2020, Freelon was in the park when he heard someone yell from the beach parking lot, “N—ers don’t belong on this beach!”
Witnesses say Mouat was upset that Freelon and his friends were playing music on the beach and started making racial comments about the group. Freelon was retrieving a speaker from a car at the time.
One bystander heard Mouat say, “I wish someone would say something to me so I can beat them.” When a commotion broke out a few minutes later, a witness heard Mouat say, “This is my beach, n—–!”
Mouat walked away from the altercation then returned with the bike lock and swung it at Freelon and another teen. Freelon was left with lacerations on his face and mouth, a fractured jaw, and lost several teeth.
Mouat admitted in a plea agreement that he’d struck one teen with the lock and attempted to hit another, and that he hurled racial slurs at the group.
Added Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin for the Eastern District of Michigan: “Our office is committed to protecting the rights of all citizens, and prosecuting hate crimes is a top priority. 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 color of their skin.”
Upon learning about Freelon’s ordeal, a Wyandotte, Michigan, dentist provided $15,000 of free dental work to the teen so that he could celebrate his upcoming graduation with a complete smile.
“I just feel happy now. Oh my God, I can’t stop smiling,” Freelon told Fox 2 last year.
Mouat could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
