MUNCIE, Ind. – The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Muncie man accused of using racial slurs while threatening a city police officer.
Trenton A. Whitaker-Blakey, 27, received a 30-month suspended prison sentence in May after Delaware Circuit Court Judge Doug Mawhorr found him guilty of harassment, a Level 6 felony.
According to court documents, a Muncie police officer — dressed in “business casual attire” instead of a uniform at the time — was walking in the parking lot at Muncie City Hall on Jan. 18 when Whitaker-Blakey approached her and used a racial slur. .
The officer – who is black – entered City Hall and reported the incident to her supervisor. During Whitaker-Blakey’s trial, she testified that she was alarmed by the incident.
Investigators said Whitaker-Blakey was wearing a “white hood” — later determined to be a pillowcase — over his head with “eyes cut out” at the time of the incident. He also had a backpack with him.
More: Muncie’s use of racial slurs by the man leads to a misdemeanor conviction
The Muncie man reportedly told police he had previously attended a meeting of a white supremacist group.
At Whitaker-Blakey’s sentencing, Mawhorr told the defendant that wearing the pillowcase over his head “communicates that you are a threat because you are someone who believes in the white supremacist beliefs and values of the Ku Klux Klan.”
On appeal, Whitaker-Blakey claimed there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.
In a 3-0 ruling on December 11, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the conviction.
The judicial panel indicated that it reached the same conclusion as Mawhorr – that Whitaker-Blakey’s actions, “crouching behind a car, showing up wearing a white hood, approaching (the officer) and calling her names (a slur).” – posed a threat. .
In a news release Thursday, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said the facts of the case were “deeply disturbing.”
“Bigotry, hatred and bigotry have no place in our society,” Hoffman added.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Harassment conviction upheld by Indiana Court of Appeals
