A La Plata County man has been arrested on suspicion of a bias-motivated crime, essentially a hate crime, and felony menacing after threatening a Mexican man with a knife and making derogatory remarks about his race in a road-rage incident.
The Durango Police Department was dispatched to the Subway at 1145 South Camino del Rio, near Walmart, around 4 p.m. Monday for a disturbance between two men outside the sandwich shop.
Once at the scene, officers were shown video of the incident taken by the alleged victim’s girlfriend.
In the video, the two men can be seen arguing, the investigating officer wrote. One of the men, identified as Brian Russell McKinsey, then goes into his car, retrieves a pocket knife, opens it and says, “I’ll (expletive) slice your belly open, Mexican.”
McKinsey, 72, then takes a step toward the alleged victim, who is not identified in court filings, and says, “Ah, this stupid Mexican doesn’t know how to drive.”
McKinsey then allegedly continues to make disparaging comments about Mexican people. He asked the alleged victim, “What’d you do, sneak through or swim the river?” and told him, “I’m from here, (expletive)!”
McKinsey told officers he was driving south on Camino del Rio when the other man “aggressively” came into his lane and nearly struck his vehicle. McKinsey said the two men exchanged words with their windows open while driving.
McKinsey then alleges the other man followed him into the parking lot.
McKinsey was arrested and taken to the La Plata County Jail.
McKinsey’s main charge is menacing, a Class 5 felony.
However, in Colorado, authorities can attach a hate crime, or “bias-motivated crime,” if investigators decide the harassment or discrimination was motivated based on things like someone’s race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
Sixth Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne said there have been about 10 cases of bias-motivated crimes in La Plata County in the past 10 years.
That last case happened in October 2019 when Kerry Dean Benally, a Native American man, was accused of making racist comments against white people after becoming intoxicated at a local restaurant.
The situation escalated into a physical confrontation, which resulted in Benally being charged on suspicion of third-degree assault with a bias-motivated crime attached. He is scheduled for a jury trial in February.
“We’re thankful we don’t have more of these types of cases, but we’re always on the lookout,” Champagne said. “It’s something we always have to be vigilant about.”
Champagne in November 2019 said he intended to make it a priority to get law enforcement educated about hate crimes, so when a crime happens, officer can better determine if it was committed because of underlying hate or discrimination toward a group.
“Sometimes, they (officers) need to dig a little bit deeper, when it’s maybe not right on the surface, that hatred was an underlying factor in some of these behaviors,” Champagne said.
Champagne said hate crimes likely happen more often than they are reported in Southwest Colorado.
“Sometimes, people think it doesn’t happen around here, but it happens everywhere,” he said. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant, as they say. The more we take it head-on, the more of an impact we have ending it.”
McKinsey has a court hearing scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 30.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
