A Michigan man will spend a year in prison for his violent, racial outburst against several of his Black neighbors over the summer.
Martin Sitto, 43, pleaded no contest to the felony charges he faced in connection with the attack, including hate crime using force (a five-year felony), assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer, assault and battery, and trespassing.
The incident happened in a residential community in Hazel Park, Michigan, on June 29.
Police were called to the neighborhood twice that day because of Sitto’s violent and erratic behavior.
When officers first arrived, they saw Sitto yelling and trespassing onto his neighbor’s property. They ordered him to stay away, but officers were called back later that night to find Sitto allegedly screaming profanities, using racial slurs, and behaving aggressively.
Witnesses say that Sitto was punching and throwing tree branches at a Black woman, who was fighting back and punched him back.
One of Sitto’s neighbors, who saw the attack, said that Sitto was punching his Black neighbors, spitting on them, then running around his home yelling that the “white race is ending.”
He even asked her to cover for him and lie to the police on his behalf.
“He asked me to tell the police that they assaulted him,” the neighbor said. “I think he assumed because I’m white, I’d be on his side. But I knew what I saw. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”
She said that in the midst of the attack, she tried to physically hold Sitto back as he continued to assault his neighbors and also helped the victims wipe spit off their faces.
When another neighbor tried to intervene and de-escalate the violence, Sitto turned on him and started attacking him and damaging property.
Neighbors also said that he resisted arrest, swung at an officer, and threatened residents, police, and government officials in multiple cities. Officers were eventually able to subdue and handcuff him.
“He was completely unhinged,” one neighbor recalled. “Shouting threats about Hazel Park, Royal Oak, Troy … saying ‘everyone was going to die.’ He didn’t stop, even when he was in handcuffs.”
Police say they’ve been called several times in the past over Sitto’s violent and chaotic behavior.
One neighbor called Sitto a “danger to society” after Sitto showed up at her home and punched her husband “for no reason.”
Another neighbor said Sitto “would shout things like, ‘Go back to Africa,’ and make threats that were violent and disturbing — not just once, but constantly.”
Police say he has a history of substance abuse and mental health issues. His criminal history shows he was previously charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence, and felonious assault.
According to WDIV, he pleaded no contest to all the charges he faced for the summertime attack on Oct. 2.
On Oct. 30, a judge sentenced him to one year in jail and three years on probation. Sitto must also participate in a drug treatment court as part of his sentence, a specialized program in which individuals undergo long-term substance abuse treatment in the hopes of reducing future criminal activity.
