Man Charged With Hate Crime After Yelling N-Word at Protesters in Buffalo
A man has been charged with a hate crime after he was caught on camera holding a knife and screaming the "n-word" at protesters in Buffalo.
A man from Franklinville, who was caught on camera, yelling the n-word at protesters while holding a knife, has been charged with a hate crime. Michael Cremen was seen Friday, August 28, on Hertel, hurling the racial slur, while police stood by. He was armed with a knife, which can be seen in the photo below. A protester can also be heard yelling, "he has a knife," in the video. The protesters were from the Western New York Liberation Collective. Cremen has been charged with menacing, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment in connection to the incident.
Cremen and another man, who has not been identified yet, came out of a bar on Hertel to harass and berate the protesters, who were supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, according to WKBW. The officers in the video appear to allow the confrontation to unfold without intervening. It's unclear in the video how the confrontation ended. Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, allegedly had a knife or was seeking a knife from his vehicle, according to the police there. As of now, his family says he is paralyzed from the waist down due to his injuries.
*** Warning: Graphic language, graphic image