A black man, a white woman and three generations of racists walk into a bar.
“Are you from Africa?” asks one of the white men. “Is it Africa Day?”
While this may sound like the opening line to an offensive joke, WKMG and the Daytona Beach News-Journal report that police have charged two Florida men with hate crimes and another with misdemeanor battery after they attacked an interracial couple who was celebrating Mother’s Day.
On May 12, Derryan Wood, who is black, took his wife Tiffany to Tailgatorz Sports Bar & Grille in Edgewater, Fla. Surveillance footage shows the couple was minding their own business at the bar when 66-year-old Warren Stratton approached them asked the couple if he was from Africa and whether it was Africa Day.
Wood, 39, told Stratton to keep it moving, but Stratton continued to antagonize the couple by asking about Africa and staring. When Woods asked Stratton if there was a problem, the elderly racist replied: “I’m just looking for a piece of ass,” referring to Wood’s wife, according to the police report.
An argument ensued and Stratton pushed Woods, who responded in kind. When witnesses separated them, Stratton’s nephew, 52-year-old Troy Noe came from around a corner and threw a punch, striking Wood and one of the people breaking up the melee. After the fight was stopped, Noe’s son, 22-year-old John Noe, walked up behind Wood and shoulder checked him twice while his dad and great uncle continued to hurl the n-word and make racial insults about Woods’ wife
A patron called 911, telling the operator: “There’s one African-American man being beat to a pulp—no one’s here to defend him—by a bunch of rednecks.”
By the time deputies arrived, the Florida redneck welcoming committee had left. When police arrived at Stratton’s home, deputies say he was on the patio “trying to get his story together.” He denied any involvement in the fight and would only say that he asked if Woods was from Africa because “that’s where they all come from.”
Warren Stratton and his nephew, Troy Noe, were charged with evidence of prejudice battery, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. John Noe’s charges were reduced to misdemeanor battery.
The punchline of the hillbilly hate squad’s joke is that they might all end up in jail.
...And hopefully, hell.
Because that’s where they all come from.