Rural Nevada sheriff probes potential hate crime after Black man says he was racially harassed
Associated Press
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A rural Nevada sheriff is investigating a potential hate crime after a Black man who said he was collecting signatures for a ballot measure recorded a confrontation with another man after the man told him “they have a hanging tree for people like me.” Ricky Johnson of Houston, Texas, posted part of the video of the Aug. 2 incident in Virginia City, Nevada, on social media. The comments drew swift condemnation from local and state officials. Johnson told The Associated Press on Monday he’d been the target of racial slurs before. But he said he’d never been through anything like that before.