Surveillance cameras captured the moment a man threw suspected battery acid on another man’s face near 13th Street and Cleveland Avenue in Milwaukee Friday night, Nov. 1. The incident prompted city leaders to speak out after claims the crime was racially motivated.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Monday, Nov. 4 held a news conference in response to the attack.
Police said a Milwaukee man, 61, was arrested on Saturday, Nov. 2 near 13th Street and Edgerton Avenue for the attack on Mahud, 42. According to police, the suspected acid attack followed a verbal altercation. The victim, who suffered second-degree burns, said the argument was over a parking spot.
“It was horrifying to see the actions that he took in response to a verbal altercation,” said Mayor Barrett. “This is not what happens in a just society.”
Mahud described the attack on Saturday after he emerged from the hospital.
“He started talking,” said Mahud. “‘You don’t respect my laws. You came to my country. You came here illegally.'”
Things soon escalated.
“He approached me with those hate words,” said Mahud. “‘Go back to your country. You don’t belong here. This is my country.’ He had a little bag he carried on the side,” said Mahud. “Then, he pulled out a little bottle, and then I got concerned. I was ready to go to the restaurant, and I saw he did like this, and my reaction was just doing like this, and he threw me the acid.”
