A civil rights attorney is calling for the Wisconsin Justice Department to intervene after the Iowa County Sheriff’s department found that a viral fight between a black teenager and multiple young men was not racially motivated.
The video of the fight, which the Sheriff called ‘disturbing’ and said that there was ‘no place in society for’, elicited outrage from people in Wisconsin and across the country as it depicted multiple young men punching a 14-year-old.
Still, Sheriff Mike Peterson said that the victim’s account of the assault and that of multiple witnesses indicated that the incident was not racially motivated.
“According to the victim, the aggressors were targeting his friend, who was already at the party due to a prior ‘beef.’ The victim stated that he did not know the individuals involved and would not provide the name of his friend”, he said.
Still, many social media users and the 14-year-old’s family are calling the incident a hate crime and demanding further investigation.
Civil rights attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who is representing the family of the 14-year-old, is calling for a hate crime investigation and for the perpetrators to be arrested. (RELATED: Wisconsin Government Caught Up in Growing Scrutiny of H1B Hires)
“When a Black teenager is targeted, beaten, and subjected to racial epithets — that is a hate crime,” LaMarr said. “This case is about accountability, protecting children, and ensuring equal protection under the law. Anything less sends the wrong message to victims and emboldens perpetrators of hate.”
Lamarr has taken on numerous high-profile cases, including a case earlier this year involving a man who alleged that the City of Racine Police Department subjected him to ‘cruel and unusual punishment’. (RELATED: Evers Vetoes Crime Bill on Probation, Parole, and Extended Supervision)
