A 21-year-old man in Montana has been charged with a felony after allegedly telling an Indian man to “go back to his country,” according to court documents.
As reported by the Billings Gazette, Jaxton Tayte Collins, 21, was arraigned on Tuesday in the Lewis and Clark County District Court over the August 7 incident.
He is accused of shoving the alleged victim and faces one misdemeanor count of assault but also a felony charge of malicious intimidation or harassment of civil or human rights.
According to Montana statute:
A person commits the offense of malicious intimidation or harassment when, because of another person’s race, creed, religion, color, national origin, or involvement in civil rights or human rights activities, the person purposely or knowingly, with the intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy, or offend:
(a) causes bodily injury to another;
(b) causes reasonable apprehension of bodily injury in another; or
(c) damages, destroys, or defaces any property of another or any public property.
Now, because of a hate-crime charge, Collins faces five years in prison.
More from the Billings Gazette:
The complainant told officers he was walking with friends when a man in an orange shirt and wearing a large cross necklace approached his friend, who is of Indian descent and wears a head covering, the affidavit states.
The man, later identified as Collins, allegedly shoved the friend with both hands and “told him to go back to his country,” according to the court documents. Witnesses told officers the incident was “frightening” and described it as an “attack.”
When more officers arrived, they located Collins nearby. He told them he had been drinking at a downtown bar and admitted that after leaving, he shouted at the victim “to go back to his own country because he was angry,” the affidavit states. Collins denied shoving the victim.
Collins’ next hearing is scheduled for April 8. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
