Author: Sam Buisman

The MPD is recommending hate crime charges against a white man accused of assaulting a Black Madisonian earlier this month. 

In an incident report released Thursday morning, the Madison Police Department advocated that prosecutors add a hate crime enhancer to the tentative charge of physical abuse of a child facing 17-year-old Deangelo Francisco. This charge, along with those of attempted theft, disorderly conduct and bail jumping, stems from a July 10 battery case where Fransisco allegedly beat up and attempted to rob a 16-year-old Black Madisonian on a Madison Metro bus while yelling racial slurs at him. 

According to the incident report, the victim suffered bruises, scratches and a bloody nose. 

Police say that video evidence shows that the attack was unprovoked, a crucial detail in determining if the attack can be deemed a hate crime. 

In the weeks following the murder of George Floyd, the MPD's diagnosis of which crimes are or are not hate crimes has become a flashpoint between police and protestors. Local activist groups have criticized the MPD for not immediately labeling certain crimes as hate crimes, including a late-June hit-and-run where a Black protestor was struck by a truck and Sunday's harassment of a group of Black artists. 

According to the MPD, Fransisco has been arrested and booked into Dane County Jail.