A Northampton, Mass., man was sentenced to six months in jail Friday in Northampton District Court after pleading guilty to charges of a civil rights violation, assault and battery to intimidate.
According to Mass Live, James L. McIntyre admitted to elbowing a black man in downtown Northampton, using a racial slur and saying, “Black lives don’t matter” in May 2016. The news site notes that McIntyre has a long history of alcohol abuse and allegedly was drunk when he told police on May 3 that a black man had threatened to pull a gun on him near the Academy of Music.
Of course, in a tale almost as old as time, when officers caught up with the accused black man, they learned that McIntyre was the racist instigator. Officers patted down the black man and found no weapons on him, and the now-victim told his side of the story.
“[The victim] stated that McIntyre said, ‘[expletive] you, [expletive,]’” Northampton Police Officer Brandon Lagoy wrote in his report, according to Mass Live. “[The victim] stated that he was not hurt by the elbow strike, but had trouble restraining himself from fighting McIntyre.”
When McIntyre said, “Black lives don’t matter,” the victim left the area in order to avoid confrontation (more power to that guy and his self-restraint).
According to Mass Live, McIntyre will serve his sentence in the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Center, which is a minimum-security facility for inmates with substance abuse disorders.
Read more at Mass Live.