A white man in Oregon was charged with hate crimes for spray painting Nazi swastika on a memorial to a black man who died in police custody.
Colin Michael Williams was arrested by Oregon City Police on Thursday on suspicion of sabotaging the memorial to Jr. Madison Jr. Jr. Madison Jr. recently passed away while being held in the Clarkmas County Jail. He was 23 years old. According to KOIN, Williams allegedly took a video of himself destroying the monument and used a pseudonym to brag on the Internet.
“Basically someone went to destroy an erected monument, kicked candles, and painted a Nazi symbol on the ground near the monument,” Oregon City Policemen Sergeant David Edwins told the media, “This person actually did brag…saying’I reluctantly committed a hate crime’… This is shocking.”
The police received the first report of the incident on Wednesday. Investigation of local surveillance video led to Williams being identified and arrested.
In addition to drawing the swastika, the police said Williams also knocked over the candles and damaged the flowers and pictures left as part of the sidewalk memorial.
According to reports, prosecutors listed Williams’ history of “dangerous radical thoughts” in a court hearing on Friday, claiming that there was evidence in his mobile phone that he had repeatedly issued death threats to Oregon Governor Kate Brown. .
20-year-old Williams was charged with prejudice, abusing monuments and criminal hoaxes. His bail is set at 100,000 U.S. dollars, and his trial is expected to begin on October 7.
Multiple local reports indicate that Williams had served as a surveyor in Clackamas County. It is not clear whether he is still a county employee after being arrested and charged.
Weekly newspaper Contact Clackamas County for comments.
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Madison died on July 3, a few days ago, he was found unresponsive in his cell after attempted suicide. His family noticed that he had obvious mental health problems and questioned why the prison did not take more measures to prevent his death given his fragile mental state. The cause of Madison’s death is currently under investigation.
According to reports, Jemmel’s grandmother Lynette Madison was shocked to learn that a few days after the vigil held in his memory, his monument was destroyed by Nazi portraits and raised people’s attention. Knowledge of the cause of his death.
“You hate someone who is dead, what is your life? Because they are black? I don’t understand this,” she told KOIN. “We held a vigil and someone broke my heart–I mean, these are just photos, just flowers, and candles. Why would anyone hate it?”
