West Allis man pleads guilty to racially charged threats against Black residents

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A West Allis man pleaded guilty Thursday, March 23, to making racially charged threats toward Black residents.

William McDonald, 45, was charged with one felony count and one misdemeanor count of intimidating and interfering with Black residents because of their race and because they were exercising their right to fair housing, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Court documents say in March of 2021, McDonald admitted to slashing a Black woman's tires and smashing her windshield while her car was parked outside her apartment.

The DOJ says he then left a note on her car "filled with racial slurs, threatening to slash her throat and demanding she move out of West Allis." A week later, McDonald slashed two of her car tires and left another note with racial slurs, threatening violence if she didn't move out of the neighborhood.

In April of 2022, the DOJ says McDonald vandalized the front door of an apartment occupied by a Black woman and her children after they moved into the complex he lived in. He's accused of vandalizing the door with racial graffiti and leaving a note calling her family a racial slur, demanding they leave the building. 

Records show McDonald has a criminal history. In 2003 he was arrested for keying his ex's new boyfriend's car, and in 2018 he was listed as a suspect in damaging windshields at a car dealership he worked at. 

“No one should feel unsafe in their home or be subjected to harmful and derogatory threats because of the color of their skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to protect the housing rights of all individuals and vigorously prosecute those who use racially-charged threats to drive people from their homes.”

McDonald faces a maximum sentence of up to 11 years in prison. 

A sentencing date has been set for June 29.