A Hudson Valley man has been charged with a hate crime after making a racist tirade during an apparent road rage incident that was caught on tape.
William Ryan of Newburgh, NY also falsely claimed he was an off-duty soldier because he defamed Robert Macklemore and his son, who is black, and gave them the middle finger, footage shows.
“I’m a cop, you ass-, I’m an off-duty soldier, you fu-ing stumpy n–,” Ryan yelled at Macklemore, a police lieutenant and chaplain in nearby Wallkill. “You’re always one–, you’ll never be white, you’ll never be white.
“F-you!” He screamed as he raised his middle finger.
Macklemore recorded the 60-year-old single in the video and posted it to Instagram.
“No one would believe this happened to me. nobody. I couldn’t believe it myself,” McLemore told CBS New York.
Newburgh police said Ryan was arrested Tuesday and charged with second-degree endangerment in the form of a hate crime, which is a felony. Police said that he has also accused the victim of attacking him with a knife.
According to CBS New York, the New York State Police said that Ryan was not a soldier with them or attached to any police agency.
“There is no place for hatred in our community,” Newburgh Police Chief Anthony Gerasi said in a statement. “Mr. Ryan will be held accountable for his criminal acts and slanderous speech. His racist threats were not only harmful to the victim in this case, but are also deep within our city.
Another video obtained by News 12 Hudson Valley shows Ryan pointing a knife at Macklemore’s car window as he continues cursing her.
Macklemore told News 12 that he was on his way to church on Saturday when he allowed an oncoming car to make a left-hand turn, angering Ryan.
“It’s personal. I was saddened that this could have happened to me and my son’s life,” Macklemore said, according to the local television station.
Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey and Mid-Hudson Westchester NAACP regional director Wilbur Aldridge said “the footage is disturbing, as are reports that the man harassing Pastor Macklemore repeatedly targeted other people in the area.” Is.” Joint statement before arrest.
