A white woman, in Michigan, accused of picking fights with Black gas station patrons, is facing charges that include ethnic discrimination.
A probable cause affidavit states that Debra Michelle McKinney, 46, repeatedly attempted to provoke confrontations with Black people in a Speedway gas station parking lot around 11 p.m. on June 6.
According to MLive, in Kalamazoo County District Court the next day, she was charged with one felony count of ethnic intimidation – which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a $5,000 fine – and one misdemeanor count of assault and battery.
McKinney allegedly approached several cars in the gas station parking lot. One driver told the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office that she inquired about his race and walked away when she learned he wasn’t Black.
The man said he then witnessed McKinney verbally harassing a Black woman. A Speedway employee told police that the woman, who is 27, was the first to fight with McKinney in the parking lot.
According to a probable cause document, the Black woman allegedly attempted to hit McKinney with a belt.
McKinney allegedly started to hit the Black woman’s car after approaching and arguing with her. The woman suffered minor facial injuries when McKinney attempted to reach for her face, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said that after police arrived, the Black woman, whom MLive did not name, tried to break away from a deputy and turn around to face him. The deputy had repeatedly instructed her to put down the belt and place her hands behind her back. The affidavit said she then attempted to leave in her car, but deputies removed her from the vehicle and arrested her. She was charged with an attempt to resist arrest.
McKinney is due for a probable cause conference on June 29.
The Speedway employee informed police that before the altercation with the woman, McKinney had been approaching and harassing other Black people, but most of them drove away.
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