A Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged with four counts of assault after a racist incident at a local lake over Memorial Day Weekend.
According to Boston.com, 66-year-old David McPartlan was charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault to intimidate after he allegedly tossed rocks and shouted a racial slur at a Black man and his daughter. The troubling incident took place as Sheron Brown and his daughter were fishing on Lake Shirley May 26.
As the two were on a boat, McPartlan allegedly threw rocks at the ship, and when that happened, Brown grabbed his mobile phone to film the interaction. The video clip, posted to Brown’s Facebook page, shows the man responding to Brown, who is shocked by the man’s behavior. McPartlan is seen and heard saying, “Oh yeah, I’m throwing rocks at you n**ger.”
When Brown asked him what he said, McPartlan doubled down and told him, “the n**ger word,” as Brown then informed him that he was going to call the police.
A police report stated that police officers arrived at the scene at 4:50 p.m. After being informed by Brown about what had transpired, the officers went to McPartlan’s house. When they asked him about the accusation, he told them that he believed Brown was fishing too close to his dock and asked him to move.
When faced with the slur reference, he said to them, “I slipped a word out that maybe I shouldn’t have, but I was pissed.” He also copped to throwing the rocks.
WCVB spoke to Brown, and he told the media outlet, “The way he said it, there was hate in his voice. The way he kept going on. I’m not trying to judge anybody, I don’t know, but it seems like that was something he was comfortable saying. I brought it to his attention that I’m with my daughter.”
McPartlan is scheduled to appear in Fitchburg District Court for an arraignment June 16.
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