The 60-year-old White man, who claimed to be a trooper, reportedly followed a Black man and his son into the parking lot of a restaurant before he called them the ‘N-word’ and attempted to stab them with a box cutter. The victim, who is African American, slowed down to let another car pass in front of him in the afternoon, which caused a white motorist behind him to become enraged. The man began shouting a racial slur at the Black man while waving a box cutter at them.
This incident occurred on Saturday in New York. The 60-year-old man, later identified as William Ryan, is now facing hate crime charges after unleashing a racial attack on a Black man. According to ABS, Ryan was charged with second-degree menacing as a hate crime after following a man and his son, attempting to stab them with a box cutter and calling them the ‘N-word’. During the incident, the 60-year-old suspect claimed to be a state trooper.
The victim, Robert McLymore, told ABC7NY that he let another driver get in front of him in traffic on Saturday, which seemed to enrage Ryan. The 60-year-old man then rear-ended Mclymore’s vehicle he was traveling in with his son. Ryan then followed the Black family into a parking lot and threatened them with box cutter.
The whole incident was captured on video. In the video, the 60-year-old white man can be heard saying: “I’m an off-duty trooper, you f—–g stu-id ‘N-word’. You’ll always be a ‘N-word’. You’ll never be white. You’ll never be white. F— you!”
During an interview with ABC7NY, McLymore reportedly said: “I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe the racial epithets, him saying that he was a cop or a trooper. Most of all, him doing what he did, and he’s an older gentleman. Forty-five years I’ve been living here. Nobody’s ever done anything like this. Nobody has ever put a box cutter to my face or anything like that or disrespected me in any way. So I was shocked. I replay it in my mind probably every three seconds.”
The New York State Police told the outlet that Ryan is not a trooper. McLymore, who is actually a police lieutenant and a church pastor, said that he forgives Ryan, but he also said that he wants the individual to face charges. McLymore and his son were not injured in this incident.
Police Chief Anthony Geraci released the following statement:
“There is no place for hate in our community. Mr. Ryan will be held accountable for his criminal actions and deplorable speech. His racists threats were not only harmful to the victim in this case, but echoes deep within our city.”