A Michigan man has admitted that he purposely knocked a Black teenager’s teeth out in a shocking hate crime.
Lee Mouat is facing ten years in prison after he pled guilty on Tuesday to attacking 18-year-old Devin Freelon, Jr. because he was Black. The incident happened on June 6th when Mouat confronted Freelon and several of his friends at Sterling State Park in Monroe. The angry man began yelling racial slurs at the teens as he approached them in the beach parking lot. Witnesses say that Mouat was upset because the boys were playing loud music. He approached the group as Freelon was retrieving a portable speaker from their vehicle, telling them that Blacks were not welcome at the beach and that Black lives don’t matter. The two exchanged words before he went to his car and returned with the bike lock, striking Freelon in the face with the lock.
One witness heard Mouat say, “I wish someone would say something to me so I can beat them.”
Freelon suffered a fractured jaw, multiple cuts on his face and mouth, and several of his teeth were knocked out.
Mouat pleaded guilty to willfully causing bodily injury to the teenager solely because of his race. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted that he repeatedly yelled racial slurs at the young men and admitted that he told them Blacks had no right to visit the public beach.
He will be sentenced on June 24th for the hate crime.
