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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 5 November 2019
Family says suspect in acid

attack is veteran, suffered PTSD

By IVAN MORENO "The only person respon- he was a citizen and that
Associated Press sible for this heinous act is "everybody came from
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwau- the person who commit- somewhere else here," Vil-
kee police arrested a man ted it, and it's disgusting the lalaz said.
suspected of throwing bat- mayor of Milwaukee would That's when he says the
tery acid on a Hispanic rather point the finger at man tossed acid at him. Vil-
man who says his attacker the president of the United lalaz turned his head, and
asked him, "Why did you States for political reasons the liquid hit the left side of
come here and invade my instead (of) responsibly his face.
country?" confronting the violence in Villalaz's sister told The As- Mahud Villalaz, 42, of Milwaukee gestures to the second-
Police said Monday they his own community," Deere sociated Press on Monday degree burns on his face Saturday November 2, 2019 at a news
arrested a 61-year-old said in a statement. that her brother believes conference one day after a man threw acid at him outside a
white man suspected in Jacqueline P. Blackwell, of the man was prepared restaurant on Milwaukee's south side.
Friday night's attack and California, told the Journal and wanted to attack Associated Press
were investigating the Sentinel that her son had someone. in recent years through of Hate and Extremism at
case as a hate crime. They moved to Milwaukee seek- "He's in shock. He says sharp rhetoric by anti-immi- California State University-
refused to release his name ing to get help. She said he can't conceive how gration groups and politi- San Bernardino, released
pending charges, but the she had not been in touch someone would be intent cians, including Trump. a study in July that found a
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with him recently and had on harming someone like Data collected by the FBI 9% increase in hate crimes
identified him as Clifton A. not heard of his arrest. that," Villalaz said in Span- showed a 17% increase in reported to police in major
Blackwell, a military veter- "I was comfortable that he ish. hate crimes across the U.S. U.S. cities in 2018.
an whose mother said had was getting good care with She said her brother is re- in 2017, the third annual in- Levin found a modest
struggled with post-trau- the VA," she told the paper. covering. She said the doc- crease in a row. decrease in bias crimes
matic stress. Blackwell's brother, 63-year- tor who treated him said it Anti-Hispanic incidents in- against Hispanic or Latino
Mahud Villalaz suffered old Arthur Blackwell of Ever- helped that he immediate- creased 24%, from 344 in people — from 103 in 2017
second-degree burns to his green, Colorado, told The ly washed his face several 2016 to 427 in 2017, ac- to 100 in 2018 — in 10 major
face. Associated Press on Mon- times inside a restaurant. cording to the FBI data. cities, including New York,
He said the attack hap- day that Blackwell "was not His family created a Go- Of crimes motivated by Chicago and Los Angeles.
pened after a man con- a confrontational person." FundMe page to cover his hatred over race, ethnicity However, Levin has said
fronted him about how he He says his brother served medical expenses. or ancestry, nearly half in- the totals likely would have
had parked his car and ac- nearly four years in the U.S. A report last year by the An- volved African Americans, increased last year if not
cused him of being in the Marines. ti-Defamation League said while about 11% were clas- for an unexplained drop in
U.S. illegally. Villalaz, 42, is a State court records show extreme anti-immigrant sified as anti-Hispanic bias. anti-Hispanic bias crimes
U.S. citizen who immigrated Blackwell was convicted views have become part Brian Levin, director of reported for Phoenix, from
from Peru. in a 2006 Rusk County case of the political mainstream the Center for the Study 25 in 2017 to 10 in 2018.q
The attack comes amid of false imprisonment and
a spike in hate crimes di- pointing a gun at a person.
rected at immigrants that Details aren't available on-
researchers and experts line, but the Journal Sentinel
on extremism say is tied to reported the case involved
mainstream political rheto- Blackwell confronting men
ric. who had come onto his
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Bar- farm property tracking a
rett expressed shock at deer.
the attack and blamed Surveillance video shows
President Donald Trump for the confrontation but does
inciting hatred against mi- not include audio.
norities. The president has Villalaz told reporters on
repeatedly referred to mi- Saturday that he was
grants attempting to cross headed into a Mexican
the U.S.-Mexico border as restaurant for dinner when
an "invasion." a man approached him
"To single out someone be- and told him, "You cannot
cause they're from a His- park here.
panic origin is simply wrong. You are doing something
And we know what's hap- illegal." He said the man
pening," Barrett, a Demo- also accused him of being
crat, said. in the U.S. illegally and of in-
"Everybody knows what's vading the country.
happening. It's because He said he ignored the
the president is talking man and moved his truck
about it on a daily basis to another block.
that people feel they have But when he returned to
license to go after Hispanic the restaurant, the man
people. And it's wrong." was waiting for him with an
White House spokesman open bottle, Villalaz said.
Judd Deere said the Trump The man again accused
administration has "repeat- him of being in the U.S. ille-
edly condemned racism, gally, Villalaz said.
bigotry and violence." He then told the man that