Fundraiser for Mahud Villalaz Milwaukee acid attack victim raises over $28K after weekend hate crime. Cops arrest 61 year old white male suspect.
Milwaukee police have arrested a man accused of throwing battery acid on a Hispanic man in a suspect hate crime over the weekend.
In a press release on Monday, cops said they arrested a 61-year-old white man suspected in Friday night’s attack. The man’s identity was not released, with charges expected Tuesday.
Mahud Villalaz, 42, suffered second-degree burns to his face. He said the attack happened after a man confronted him about how he’d parked his car and accused him of being in the U.S. illegally. Villalaz is a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Peru.
Surveillance video recorded the incident but not the audio.
Milwaukee acid attack: White man charged in hate crime against Peruvian immigrant
#BREAKING – Video shows the moment a man was hit with battery acid. Police arrested the culprit & call it a hate crime because the victim, who is Latino, says before he was hit by the white male suspect he called him “illegal” STORY: https://t.co/WAiX44Sx9d pic.twitter.com/pb2agxS6Go
— Chernéy Amhara (@CherneyAmharaTV) November 3, 2019
‘everybody came from somewhere else here,’
Villalaz said the assault occurred while making his way to a Mexican restaurant for dinner when a man approached him and allegedly saying, ‘You cannot park here. You are doing something illegal.’
Villalaz said the man also accused him of being in the U.S. illegally and of invading the country. He said he ignored the man and moved his truck to another block. But when he returned to the restaurant, the man was waiting for him with an open bottle, Villalaz said.
The man again accused him of being in the U.S. illegally, Villalaz said. He told the man he was a citizen and that ‘everybody came from somewhere else here,’ Villalaz said.
That’s when he says the man tossed acid at him. Villalaz turned his head, and the liquid covered the left side of his face.
Mahud Villalaz, a U.S. citizen and Latino, was told he didn’t belong in the country and then doused in battery acid.
The rise of anti-Latino hate crimes during the Trump administration is directly related to Trump’s extreme anti-Latino rhetoric & deeds. https://t.co/dItxQAaKhk
— Latino Victory (@latinovictoryus) November 4, 2019
‘Why did you come here and invade my country?’
The incident led to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat, blaming President Trump for his continual rhetoric which has incited hatred against minorities.
‘To single out someone because they’re from a Hispanic origin is simply wrong. And we know what’s happening,’ Barrett said. ‘Everybody knows what’s happening. It’s because the president is talking about it on a daily basis that people feel they have license to go after Hispanic people. And it’s wrong.’
A GoFundMe page set up by Villalaz’s family to cover his medical expenses as of Monday early evening had raised $28,400 for a $15,000 goal.
Posted the victim’s sister, Priscilla Villalaz on the GoFundMe page: ‘Mahud could see the hate in his eyes and the man continued to say that Latinos and other nationalities don’t belong here, that we are just invading the American country. Mahud got very upset from his hateful words. He couldn’t believe that he was hearing someone say all these hurtful hate words.’
Welcome to a brave divided America …