Latino man says acid attacker accused him of invading U.S.

MILWAUKEE — Police here arrested a man suspected of throwing battery acid on a Latino man who says his attacker asked him, “Why did you come here and invade my country?”

Police said Monday they arrested a 61-year-old white man suspected in Friday night’s attack, but they haven’t identified him. Police said they were investigating the case as a hate crime and charges were expected Tuesday.

Mahud Villalaz suffered second-degree burns to his face. He said the attack happened after a man confronted him about how he had parked his car and accused him of being in the U.S. illegally. Villalaz, 42, is a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Peru.

The attack comes amid a rise in hate crimes directed at immigrants that researchers and experts on extremism say is tied to mainstream political rhetoric.

At a news conference Monday, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett expressed shock at the attack and blamed President Trump for inciting hatred against minorities. The president has repeatedly referred to migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border as an “invasion.”

“To single out someone because they’re from a Hispanic origin is simply wrong. And we know what’s happening,” said Barrett, a Democrat. “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.”

The White House did not immediately comment.

Villalaz told reporters Saturday that he was headed into a Mexican restaurant for dinner when a man approached him and told him: “You cannot park here. You are doing something illegal.” He 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 a bottle, Villalaz said.

The man again accused him of being in the U.S. illegally, Villalaz said. He then told the man that he was a citizen and that “everybody came from somewhere else here.” That’s when he says the man tossed acid at him.

Villalaz’s sister told the Associated Press on Monday that he is recovering.

Sophie Carson Journal Sentinel MAHUD VILLALAZ, 42, shows the second-degree burns on his face that resulted from a man throwing battery acid at him outside a Milwaukee restaurant.