Racial tensions have reached a new high this year, especially following the Charlottesville rally. There have been several reports of racist vandalism incidents, including the nooses found at the Blacksonian.
This time, however, the aggression is coming from the other side. According to The Washington Post, 24-year-old Jermaine Hines, Jr. was arrested on Thursday in connection to an attack on a 51-year-old white woman, who he believed to be a KKK member/white supremacist. Authorities confirmed that Hines walked up to the woman and punched her, knocking her down. Hines reportedly yelled at the woman and accused her of being part of the KKK and called her a "white supremacist," according to the police report.
The woman then went home to tell her son who then went back to take a cellphone photo of Hines, prompting Hines to knock the phone out of his hand, cracking the screen. Hines accused the son of being affiliated with the KKK as well. The woman's son has denied any affiliation with the group, according to what he told the police.
Hines was charged with fifth-degree felony ethnic intimidation. Police authorities believe the incident was a hate crime and that Hines is a member of an unnamed street gang.
Online court documents state that Hines attacked the woman "simply because she was white."
The documents went on to state that the woman "is in constant fear because (Hines) has been seen walking around her neighborhood, and she fears he will attack her or some other person simply because of the color of their skin," per Cleveland.com.