A Georgia man who verbally attacked another citizen was arrested and charged with assault after a video of him shouting profane language (including racial slurs) in a fast-food restaurant’s parking lot went viral. The victim alleges his attacker was upset at him for the way he parked his vehicle.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office confirms the agency arrested David McConnell, 63, a white male on a simple assault charge for the Aug. 24 incident against a Black trucker outside of McDonald’s on Bells Ferry Road in the Atlanta suburb of Acworth, Georgia.
The man was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.
In the video, one of the offensive remarks the man is heard saying is “Dumba** n**** that don’t know where to park his f***ing truck.”
The victim, who does not want to be identified, videotaped the tirade, including an episode when McConnell came dangerously close to him.
“I never thought that it would happen to me,” the man stated. “I parked along the curve here. I walked in and grabbed food and as I was walking out he was coming in and he started yelling and cursing.”
The video shows McConnell barking, “Nobody can get around your stupid a**. They can’t get around your stupid a**. I want to knock the f***ing hell out of you in a minute.”
“I brushed it off and walked out and came back to my truck to do an inspection. He came back out continuing to yell using racial slurs,” the trucker said.
“You want my name? You want my license? It says f*** you n****,” McConnell said in the video.
John Doe did record the man’s license plate number and gave it to the sheriff’s office in his report.
He said, “I was shocked. With everything going on, I was afraid, actually, and I just didn’t know what was to come.”
“I held the door open for this guy. I smiled at him as he walked in. Any hate he might have had, I thought he would have changed his demeanor,” the victim continued to explain.
The man said he did not respond to McConnell with the same energy because he wanted to de-escalate the incident.
“Instead of resulting to violence, the video can show my restraint, and show there are other ways to handle the situation,” the victim said. “I just want people to respect each other.”
Because McConnell used racialized language, his assault may be considered a hate crime.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reports that in 2021 some 224 hate crimes were reported across the state, with the largest percentage of reports coming from the Black community, three times greater than Georgia’s white community. The agency estimates, based on their data, statewide two hate crimes happen every three days, with the city of Brookhaven in DeKalb County reporting the most incidents out of all law enforcement agencies.
Six core metro Atlanta counties, Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Forsyth, and Gwinnett, made up 43 percent of the statewide hate crimes.
The state has been under a spotlight making national headlines after three white men from just outside of the city of Brunswick chased down and fatally shot a young Black man named Ahmaud Arbery.
The son and father, Travis and Gregory McMichael, respectively, have been sentenced to serve life for a federal hate crime and for murder on state charges. Their federal sentences will be served concurrently with their state murder sentences, plus additional years for attempted kidnapping and gun charges. The third man, Willie “Roddie” Bryan received more than 37 years in prison, with credit for 27 months already served.
