Eddie & Candace Hall Warren black couple targeted because of race? Michael Frederick Jr white Michigan man confesses to attacks, but insists race was not motivating reason.
A 24-year-old Michigan white man accused of repeatedly terrorizing a black suburban Detroit family last month after firing shots into their home displaying a Black Lives Matter sign and defacing their vehicle with a swastika was arrested on Tuesday in connection to the crime spree.
Michael Frederick Jr come Thursday was arraigned on three counts of ethnic intimidation, four weapons offenses and two counts of malicious destruction of property during a video court appearance.
The man’s arrest followed Warren police receiving a tp that Frederick was behind the attacks against US Army veterans, Eddie and Candace Hall.
The 24 year old was arrested after police searched the home where he lives with his father and recovered clothing consistent with clothes worn by the suspect caught on a neighbor’s surveillance video, including a mask and shoes.
Frederick told Judge Michael Chupa that he wanted the victims to forgive him and that he had acted out-of-character reported the Detroit Free Press.
Resorting to violence over an idea, difference of opinion
‘This wasn’t about the color of anyone’s skin,’ he said, adding that his actions were triggered by the Black Lives Matter sign in the Hall family’s front window.
Responded Chupa: ‘If you have a disagreement with someone about facts, engage them in conversation, try to figure things out. That’s what America is about. But using violence, whether motivated by race or politics or hatred or acrimony, I don’t care. That is not what America is about. We have enough problems in this country without people shooting or violence or disruptions or riots or looting or burning over politics.’
Adding, ‘Think what you want to think. Believe what you want to believe. But if you expect people to respect your opinions, then perhaps you should do the same for others. I’m greatly concerned about the allegation that violence was used as a result of opinion difference.’
Chupa told Frederick not to discuss the case. The judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the man for each count and set his bond at $200,000. Frederick requested a court-appointed lawyer.
Chupa said Frederick must wear a GPS tether if he posts bond and is to have no contact with the Halls or their Tallman Avenue property.
Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said Frederick confessed to the attacks and expressed remorse which began after the Halls erected a BLM sign on their front early September.
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts described Frederick as a ‘racist terrorist’ and stated that there is no place for racism in his city, reported Mlive.com.
‘terrorist Black Lives Matter,’
‘The City of Warren does not tolerate racism. They don’t tolerate terrorism and they don’t tolerate someone who would actually plague the entire community,’ Fouts said.
A court conference was set for October 13 and Frederick’s preliminary examination is scheduled for October 20.
Matters came to the fore on September 7, when shots were fired at the Halls’ home in Warren.
Two days later, someone painted a swastika on one of their vehicles, slashed the tires and threw a large stone through their front window. Outside, they discovered the swastika and found that someone had written ‘terrorist Black Lives Matter,’ ‘not welcome’ and ‘get the f*** out’ on their silver pickup truck.
Candace documented the damage to her property in a Facebook live video just minutes after the evening attack.
But there was more to come.
Similar attack directed at a white neighbor
The following day, someone fired a bullet through the Halls´ front window and police found six shell casings outside the house.
A neighbor’s home surveillance video showed a masked and hooded man carrying what appears to be a handgun outside the Halls’ home. A tip led to Frederick’s home searched and the man’s arrest on Tuesday.
During a Wednesday press conference, Commissioner Dwyer said the suspect used a gun from his family’s garage, which belonged to a friend of his parents, to fire shots.
The commissioner said Frederick also confessed to a similar attack directed at a white neighbor that took place in the same week as the crime spree targeting the Halls.
In that incident, Frederick allegedly scrawled the word ‘pedophile’ on the garage door and threw a rock through a window at the man’s home, which displays signs supporting Democratic political candidates.
‘Hate brings no good to anyone,’ Candace Hall said during a press conference on Wednesday.
She said her family could not sleep and had to temporarily move out of their home out of fear that the person targeting them could return.
Candace added that she prays for the suspect and his mother, and that she feels sorry for his parents.
If given a chance to meet Frederick, the woman said she would tell him she is praying him him and forgives him.
Records indicate that Frederick has a prior criminal record in Michigan that includes a 2016 arrest on a charge of malicious destruction of property stemming from an incident in which he damaged a vehicle after getting fired from his job.
