PORT ANGELES — A Clallam Bay man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly shouted racial slurs at Black Lives Matters demonstrators in Port Angeles and threw eggs at them on June 13.
Jeffery Michael Henry Dunn, 24, was charged Friday in Clallam County Superior Court with one count of committing a felony malicious harassment hate crime and three counts of fourth-degree assault. Five no-contact civil harassment protection orders also were issued Friday against Dunn. He is set to be arraigned at 9 a.m. July 31.
According to the probable cause statement from the Port Angeles Police Department, Dunn admitted using the N-word at demonstrators at Fourth and Lincoln streets in front of the Clallam County Courthouse and yelling “[N-word] lovers” at them.
He allegedly made other racist and homophobic comments while driving by the demonstrators — which included Blacks and protesters holding signs in favor of LGBTQ rights — three times, the statement said.
Demonstrators reported that he threw eggs at them during one of his passes, hitting at least three people. Video of the egg-throwing was posted on Facebook.
After the incident, Dunn allegedly changed his Facebook profile to a photo of him throwing eggs at the protest and added the nickname “That Egger Guy” to his profile. The photo of him throwing eggs was still on a Jeffery Dunn Facebook profile Saturday, but not the nickname.
Bail was set Wednesday at $2,500. Dunn was no longer listed on the jail roster Saturday.
At Dunn’s bail hearing, he was ordered not to go within 100 yards of any person engaging in a protest.
Malicious harassment is a Class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. It is the state “hate crime” statute.
Under this code, an act is considered a hate crime if the person is acting against others because of a perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability and causes physical injury or damage to property.
Words alone do not constitute a hate crime offense unless the context or circumstances surrounding the words indicate the words are a threat, the state statue says.
Fourth-degree assault is a misdemeanor.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be reached at [email protected]
