A white Michigan man who shot at and vandalized the home of a Black family admitted his problem was that he “didn’t like” their Black Lives Matter sign.
The Associated Press reports that 25-year-old Michael Frederick Jr. was sentenced in court this week, and he admitted to shooting at Eddie and Candace Hall’s home in Warren, slashing car tires, and writing racist graffiti on a pickup truck.
“I targeted these people because I didn’t like their political sign that they had in the window,” said Frederick at his sentencing in Macomb County Circuit Court. “I think you guys are some great people and didn’t deserve this at all.”
Frederick has been sentenced to four to 10 years in prison for his actions; he claimed he wasn’t intending to attack the family “personally.” His harassment of the Halls started in September 2020, firing shots at their house. Just two days later, they discovered a swastika painted on one of their vehicles and “terrorist Black Lives Matter” and “not welcome” written on their pickup truck. Frederick was arrested shortly after for ethnic intimidation.
“I’m not angry, I’m not. I’m forgiving,” said Candace Hall at the sentencing. “You’re a good kid and have a chance. You made a bad choice, and we understand that. We have children ourselves. We’re not hateful people, we’re Christians. … With so much of the bad that happened, so much good came out of this because even though it was an evil, hateful act, it actually brought us—the neighborhood—together with love and comfort and compassion, even including his parents.”
Michael Frederick Jr. pleaded no contest to ethnic intimidation, discharging a firearm at a building, using a firearm during a felony, and malicious destruction of property. He additionally pleaded no contest to a separate incident in which he vandalized the home of someone who had a Joe Biden presidential campaign sign.
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