Man pleads guilty in attack on Black teen at beach

DETROIT » A white man has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after a Black teen was attacked in a southeastern Michigan park and hit in the face with a bicycle lock.

Lee Mouat, 43, entered the plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit and is scheduled to be sentenced June 24. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Last June, Mouat confronted a group of Black teens at Sterling State Park beach in Monroe County’s Frenchtown Township, about 39 miles (62 kilometers) southwest of Detroit.

He repeatedly used racial slurs and said Black people had no right to use the beach before striking Devin Freelon Jr. and attempting to hit another teen, authorities said. Freelon lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw as well as cuts to his face and mouth.

“The young victim in this case suffered tremendously from this vicious, racially motivated assault,” said Saima Mohsin, acting U.S. Attorney for Michigan’s Eastern District. “Every individual citizen has the right to not live in fear of violence or attack based on the color of their skin.”

The assault happened after two groups of people — one white, the other Black — exchanged words at the beach. Mouat went to his car and retrieved the bike lock, authorities said, and the attack on Freelon sparked a brawl between the groups.

Mouat was charged in October in a federal criminal complaint and indicted in February.