Man charged with bias crime after Black worker threatened

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man has been charged with a bias crime after two Black men were threatened with a knife, according to a Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Zachary Hantz threatened a City of Portland Parks & Recreation employee Sunday, according to the district attorney’s office.

Officials said Hantz started walking aggressively toward the man, yelling racial hate speech. Officials said he took out a knife and pointed it at the worker in a way that made him fearful of “serious physical injury.”

A Black man who saw the incident tried to de-escalate the situation but Hantz started screaming and pointing the knife at him, officials said.

Law enforcement arrived and arrested Hantz. He has been charged with one count of bias crime, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of menacing.

It wasn’t immediately known if Hantz has a lawyer to comment on his case.