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Massachusetts man charged after allegedly throwing rocks, using racial slur at Black father and daughter
The suspect is facing criminal charges and will appear in court following the alleged racist incident.
Police have charged an Ayer man who allegedly threw rocks and shouted a racial slur at a Black man and his daughter while they were fishing on Lake Shirley over Memorial Day weekend.
In a clip shared to Facebook, a shirtless man on the shore says, “Oh yeah, I’m throwing rocks at you (n-word).”
The man who posted the video, Sheron Brown, is later heard saying he’s going to call the police.
Police later identified the man as David McPartlan, 66, and charged him with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault to intimidate.
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According to a police report, officers were dispatched to the boat ramp at Shady Point campground at 4:50 p.m. on May 26 for a report of a disturbance involving a man, his child, and another man on the shore.
The calling party, identified as Brown, told officers that he was fishing on Lake Shirley in his boat near the area of Spring Street with his 10-year-old daughter when McPartlan approached him.
Brown told police that McPartlan called them the n-word and threw rocks at him that struck his boat.
The rocks never hit Brown and did not cause damage to the boat.
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Police visited McPartlan’s house and questioned him about the incident. McPartlan told police that he believed Brown was fishing too close to his dock and swimming area and asked him to move.
As the argument progressed, McPartlan admitted, “I slipped a word out that maybe I shouldn’t have, but I was pissed,” the report said.
McPartlan admitted to throwing rocks around the boat.
McPartlan is due in Fitchburg District Court for an arraignment on June 16.
Brown told WCVB that he has fished in Lake Shirley many times before and never experienced an issue like this.
He added that it was the first time his daughter had come face-to-face with racism.
“There’s no rulebook for when someone’s yelling slurs at you and being aggressive,” Brown told WCVB. “And she’s looking at me and I’m looking at him and I’m feeling her, and I’m just at this impasse, like how do I end this, what do I do?”
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