A Mississippi man has been charged with nine counts of simple assault-attempt by physical menace to create fear after he filmed himself driving in a threatening manner near Black teenagers riding bicycles and calling them a racial slur.
'50 Points'
As News3 reports, in the incident that took place on Monday afternoon, the man, identified as Mark Hall, is heard saying, "Ahh hell, 50 points!" before driving through the group of teens at a high speed on a street in Ripley. One of the teens told the local news outlet that another teen's bike was clipped by Hall's car as he drove past.
Hall can also be heard in the video using the N-word towards the teens. He later posted the video on Snapchat but the clip went viral after it was screen recorded and posted to Facebook. Watch it below:
Hall Could Face Hate Crime Charges
In the wake of the incident, the nine teenagers and their parents arrived at the Ripley Police Station looking for answers and to file charges against Hall. He was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Tippah County jail.
Ripley Police Chief Scott White said that misdemeanour charge could be raised to a felony while addressing a large crowd of concerned citizens during Ripley's regular city meeting on Tuesday. Other charges, including "hate crimes" could be added upon further investigation, he added.
"It's still people that's like that in the world," said one of the teens, Jeremiah Crum. "Even though you don't want to see it, you have to accept the truth and what it is that it's still people like that in the community."
"My son should be able to live his life, to grow up and to be a productive young man," parent Willie Hill said. "Not to fear if he is going to be mowed down by someone that has complete disregard because his tan is darker than his."
