West Allis man pleads guilty to writing racist threats, demanding his Black neighbors leave the city

A 45-year-old West Allis man pled guilty on Thursday to federal charges, admitting that he slashed his neighbor's car tires and wrote racist threats stipulating she leave his neighborhood.

According to court documents, William McDonald, 45, slashed the tires and windshield of a Black woman's vehicle parked outside her apartment in the 1400 block of South 79th Street in March 2021. He also left a note on the vehicle threatening to slash the woman's throat. The note was filled with the N-word along with a demand she move out of West Allis.

A week later, McDonald slashed two of her tires and left a second N-word laden note with an another ultimatum that she move from the neighborhood or suffer violence.

In April, a Black woman with two sons moved into the same complex as McDonald. Three days later she found the N-word written in black pen on her door and two notes under her door. One read, "Stay here and see what the (expletive) happens, (N-word)."

Two other incidents happened less than a mile away in the 8700 block of West Mitchell Street, where the suspect used similar tactics. However, the Department of Justice did not state that McDonald admitted to those crimes. The incidents were mentioned in the criminal complaint and one of them led to local media coverage.

A Puerto Rican woman with two young Black sons was living on West Mitchell Street in October 2021, when she said she found a note, saying "I've been watching all you (expletives) (N-word) moving into MY neighborhood."

In February 2022, a Black couple with a young child, living at the same complex, found two of their car's tires cut. A note on the car read, "Get the (expletive) out of my neighborhood, (N-word)."

At the time, the FBI said surveillance footage showed a vehicle similar to McDonald's in the area and that all the notes were written on stationery from a chain restaurant, where McDonald had worked. West Allis police had McDonald write down information during a traffic stop in March 2022 and the FBI said his handwriting matched the racist notes.

Many of the victims of the racist actions moved out of West Allis and took to social media following the incidents, leading to a reaction from West Allis Mayor Dan Devine, who at the time said, "This does not represent West Allis or what West Allis stands for. ... We have worked hard towards becoming a more welcoming and inclusive community to all.

"I feel like we have made some progress, but then a story like this arises and reinforces that we still have work to do. This ignorant, hateful rhetoric has absolutely no place in our city, or anywhere else."

At the time, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called for a hate crime investigation into the incidents.

McDonald will be sentenced on June 29. He faces up to 11 years in prison.

Bob Dohr of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS. 

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: West Allis man pled guilty to writing racist threats to Black neighbors