Flint Macy’s attack: Damire Palmer Mount Morris Township, Michigan man charged in ‘unprovoked’ attack of white store manager. No evidence of use of n-word.
An 18 year old black man has been arrested over the ‘unprovoked,’ assault of a white Macy’s manager at a Michigan outlet earlier this month.
Damire Palmer, of Mount Morris Township, faces one count of felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder for the June 15 attack on the employee inside the Flint department store.
‘This was an unprovoked attack on a Macy’s employee,’ said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton in a statement. ‘This behavior as seen on the video is unacceptable, it is criminal, and it cannot be allowed.’
Contrary to initial claims, police and prosecutors didn’t uncover evidence of the staffer allegedly ever having used N-word, officials said according to a report via ABC12.
‘We don’t believe any racial slur was made by the store manager,’ Leyton said.
‘What are you doing that for?’
In surveillance video that prosecutors obtained from Macy’s, Palmer approaches the store manager from behind and sucker punches him in the head, knocking the unawares man to the floor, officials said.
While the manager is on the ground, footage shows Palmer pummeling the man. He can be heard repeatedly calling the manager the n-word and pushing him down as the manager asks him to stop.
Palmer then exits the store with his brother.
In the cellphone footage that went viral, the Macy’s staffer is shown wearing a mask and speaking on a cellphone when a black man punches him from behind and he drops to the floor. ‘What are you doing that for?’ the manager asks then tries to crawl away. ‘I’m sorry,’ the staffer says, cowering on the ground, before Palmer lands two more blows.
Sick commentary 🤮 Look at the hashtags.
They Macy’s in Flint is saying the attack was unprovoked. https://t.co/26gLiIyZnw
— Political Cow (@PoliticalCow) June 22, 2020
Prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to support a hate-crime charge.
‘He’s shook up and he’s emotionally upset, as well as physically upset,’ Leyton said of the store manager. ‘But, he’s emotionally upset to think that, you know, anybody would think he said the alleged vile, racial, provoking slur; because he says he didn’t say it, and his history suggests he didn’t say it.’
Leyton added the two did talk minutes prior to the attack.
No evidence of white store manager having provoked ‘black customer’.
‘The assailant said to the store manager — ‘Does this jacket fit?’ And the store manager said to him, ‘No, it’s too small,’’ Leyton explained.
The store manager was on the phone at the time with a coworker out of state. Leyton said he finished his conversation while walking to a different part of the store.
‘This was a cell phone to cell phone call, there is no recording of it. And the out of state witness who we interviewed said that he did not hear any such alleged provocation,’ Leyton explained.
Leyton added that the only person to mention the manager said anything inappropriate to Palmer was his brother who posted the video to social media. The prosecutor said that is not evidence.
‘Even if there were verbal provocation, which we have no evidence of, violent retaliation is not permitted by the law,’ he said.
If convicted, Palmer faces up to 10 years in prison. Authorities do not plan to charge his brother, Damarquay Palmer, who allegedly filmed the attack, since they don’t believe he committed a crime.
