Arlington 'White Supremacist' Arrested After Alleged Knife Threats

ARLINGTON, MA — Police arrested an Arlington man they said called himself a "White Supremacist" last week after another man accused him of shouting racial slurs, swinging a baseball bat at him and showing a knife near the bike path along Mill Street Wednesday.

Police told Patch that in 2017 so far there have been eight incidents labeled a civil rights violation or hate crime such as this, and the bulk of them were graffiti related. This particular incident, they cautioned, involved someone with possible mental health issues, they said.

"That’s an area we walk on gently," said Captain Richard Flynn, a spokesperson for the police. "It doesn’t discount what happened, but we can’t go too in depth here," he said.

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In 2016 there were nine such incidents: all of which were vandalism. Seven involved damage to Black Lives Matter signs in the community, said police.

“Most of them are not aimed at any specific person," said Flynn. Still, he said the department investigates and notifies the Arlington Human Rights Commission. "We take them very seriously," he said.

What happened?

A man told police that he arranged to meet up with Cameron Anthony of Arlington but who he only knew as "Twisted Savage" from Facebook. The man said Anthony had followed him too closely recently and wanted to know why. The two agreed to meet in person to talk it over, the man told police later. When he arrived and started walking toward the man, Anthony allegedly yelled "white power," used the "N" word directed at him, and was repeatedly giving the white power salute.

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This angered the man, who began to approach the person he knew only as "Twisted Savage," later identified as Anthony. The situation escalated, with Anthony allegedly producing a baseball bat and swinging it at the man, who police noted was of Hispanic decent. Anthony also pointed a knife at the man, according to police, although neither the baseball bat nor the knife came in contact with the man.

At some point Anthony ran off and a third person called police, describing watching Anthony point a long knife at two men, according to a police report. Shortly after, police stopped someone someone matching Anthony's description at the Water Street entrance of the bike path, complete with baseball bat, according to police.

Anthony told police that he was just involved in an altercation on the bike path, he also told police he was a white supremacist, according to the report.

Cameron S. Anthony, 21, of Willow Court is being charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault, and civil rights violation.

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Image screen shot of police report via Arlington Police