The U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced a Wisconsin man to 2 ½ years in prison for a hate crime where he violated the civil rights of his Black neighbors.
William McDonald was found guilty of one count of “willfully injuring, intimidating or interfering with housing rights because of race or color by force or threat of force and use, attempted use and threatened use of a dangerous weapon,” and a second count of the same injurious interference without a weapon.
McDonald would follow his 30 months of incarceration with three years of supervised release after he was convicted of intimidating them based on their race, the Justice Department said in an official statement.
McDonald was convicted of slashing the tires and smashing the windshield of a Black woman’s vehicle multiple times in 2021. The vandalization was topped by the 45-year-old white man leaving a note where he called her racial slurs and threatened to “slash her throat” and do other things as he demanded she leave the small community of West Allis.
The note was written on a restaurant’s stationary and read “BETTER WATCH WHO THE F##K YOU TALK S##T TO UGLY FAT N##GER B##TCH! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. IF I SEE YOU AGAIN, I’LL SLASH YOUR F##KING THROAT. GET THE F##K BACK TO THE NORTHSIDE WHERE YOU BELONG F##KING N##GER!”
“Get the f##k outta my neighborhood,” he further wrote. “Before I slash you s##t again.”
In another threatening note, he wrote, “Last warning.”
The federal court also found him guilty of threatening another woman and her two minor children in 2022 after the family moved into the apartment complex where he lived. He harassed the family by writing racialized graffiti on her front door and using bigoted and abusive language whenever he saw them, demanding they all move from the property.
McDonald slipped a note under her door that read “get the f##k out n##gers. Your NOT wanted here.”
Two days later, he sent another note that said, “Stay here + see what the f##k happens n##ger.”
Both instances happened within a one-mile radius of each in or around the apartment McDonald’s complex.
The DOJ ruled he infringed upon the women’s constitutional right to reside anywhere they choose, irrespective of their race, and to live free from harassment. This right is protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
“The 30-month sentence of William McDonald is a direct outcome of the unrelenting efforts and dedication of federal and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to protect the rights of every Wisconsin citizen to live in a safe and protected environment free from race-based violence,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Hensle of the FBI Milwaukee Field Office.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that every individual has the fundamental right to reside in their homes and communities without fear of racial violence or threats.
“The Justice Department will vigorously enforce federal laws that protect all residents against race-based threats like those made by this defendant,” she said in prepared remarks. “This sentence should send a strong message to others who would carry out racially motivated threats and acts of violence that they will be brought to justice.”
