West Allis Man Federally Charged After Racist Incidents, Threats: DOJ

WEST ALLIS, WI — A West Allis man is facing federal charges of seeking to intimidate and interfere with housing rights after a series of racist incidents in the city, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday outlines multiple incidents where racist, threatening notes were left on peoples' cars in the city between 2021 and 2022. The man is also accused of slashing tires and breaking windows, according to the federal complaint.

William McDonald, 54, was charged in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin with willfully injuring, intimidating, or interfering with another's housing rights because of their race, color or national origin by force or threat of force.

Between February of 2021 and April of 2022, multiple victims found notes on their cars that were littered with racist slurs, threats of violence, and demands to leave, according to the criminal complaint.

At times when victims found the notes, they also found their car's tires were slashed, the criminal complaint says.

In April 2021, a Black family who moved into the same apartment complex as McDonald discovered racist notes and vandalism right at the front door of their home — the criminal complaint says the hateful notes drove members of the family away from the apartment.

FBI agents and West Allis police tracked the racist activity through video surveillance footage, the complaint says. A suspect vehicle was identified in March of 2022, and the registration tracked back to McDonald, the criminal complaint says.

The victims all lived within a one-mile radius of McDonald in West Allis, the complaint says. Four victims told the FBI they moved away from West Allis solely because of the racist notes they found, the complaint says.

The FBI searched McDonald's apartment and car on Tuesday after a federal magistrate judge issued a warrant. They found a note in his car that was very similar to the ones found over the past year by numerous victims, the complaint says.