A Macomb County jury has found a Michigan man guilty of one charge of ethnic intimidation and two additional offenses connected to a 2022 shooting. The assailant yelled the N-word at a Black pedestrian before firing his rifle at the man.
He currently faces up to eight years and will have to serve a minimum of two years in prison.
The incident occurred on July 25, 2022, in suburban Detroit when the victim innocently passed by Anthony Mangiapane’s Warren, Michigan, shop. As the Black man stood on the sidewalk, the 56-year-old raised his weapon in his doorway and shouted, “N##ger, you better get moving,” according to Fox 2 Detroit.
Shortly after he uttered that demand, he shot at the 37-year-old St. Clair Shores resident three times.
The victim, who was uninjured, left the scene of the gunfire and went to a nearby location. There he called 911 to report that he was shot at. The dispatcher who picked up the call, also heard the shooting still going on in the background.
Within three minutes, Warren police responded to the call, arriving at the two separate locations, meeting the victim, and going to the business where they encountered a resistant Mangiapane. After the shooting, Mangiapane barricaded himself inside a business before later surrendering to police.
Before he surrendered, police noticed and gathered rifle casings on the ground, believed to be from the reported shooting. After testing, the forensic lab concluded that the shell casing was indeed a match with the rifle with a green laser scope that belonged to Mangiapane which was on the property.
Jurors listened to evidence against the business owner during a three-day jury trial in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens before coming to a guilty verdict.
They reviewed evidence discovered by the Michigan State Police bomb squad such as an M203 grenade shell, a cache of weapons, including A German Luger pistol and other kinds of pistols, shotguns, and AR-15-style rifles with high-capacity magazines.
Also found on his property was Nazi memorabilia that Mangiapane collected.
The case was prosecuted by Kumar Palepu, who heads the Macomb Prosecutor’s Hate Crime Unit for the department. The statement regarding the verdict was given by Palepu’s colleague, Peter Lucido
“Thank you to the Macomb County jury for holding this man accountable for his hate-driven, violent actions,” said Lucido, according to the Macomb Daily.
In addition to ethnic harassment, which carries a two-year felony, the jury found Mangiapane guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, a four-year felony, and a felony firearm charge for a mandatory two-year sentence.
Mangiapane is currently incarcerated in the Macomb County Jail. He is awaiting his sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2024.
