RENO, Nevada (AP) — Three people were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with a verbal altercation last week in Virginia City, Nevada, during which a Black man said a racial slur was directed at him by a man who also said “they have a hanging tree” for people like him.
The incident occurred when Ricky Johnson was collecting signatures for a ballot measure during the popular Hot August Nights classic car festival in Virginia City, a tourist town just south of Reno. Johnson began videoing after the alleged racist comments were directed at him. In the video Johnson demands that the man repeat the words on video.
A loud, profanity-filled argument on both sides followed before a woman told Johnson he was on her property. Johnson repeatedly asks her not to touch him as they move the conversation into the street, the video shows. At no time on the video is the “hanging tree” comment repeated, nor are any racial epithets uttered.
Johnson posted the video to TikTok on Aug. 2, drawing prompt condemnation from local and state officials. The Storey County Sheriff's Office interviewed Johnson and others involved, then turned over evidence to the district attorney.
On Wednesday, the sheriff's office issued a news release saying two women and a man had been arrested and booked into jail. The man in the video was charged with breach of peace, a gross misdemeanor that includes making threatening comments based on race. One of the women was charged with battery and the other with interfering with a peace officer, both misdemeanors.
The arrests drew quick praise from Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is Black.
“The public outcry was heard loud and clear, and steps have been taken to hold these individuals accountable for their racist and unlawful actions,” Ford said.
Johnson, from Houston, was in Virginia City working for Advanced Micro Targeting Inc., a Texas-based company that provides voter outreach and get-out-the-vote services. He was collecting signatures for a proposed Nevada state ballot initiative aimed at capping fees that attorneys collect from clients in personal injury cases.
The verbal altercation occurred in downtown Virginia City, an old mining town that attracts tens of thousands of tourists who walk its wood-planked sidewalks filled with old saloons and stores.
“I’m still shaking every time I think about it,” Johnson told The Associated Press by phone Monday before returning to Texas.
————
Kelety reported from Phoenix
FILE - Cars line the main stretch of Virginia City, Nev., that attracts tens of thousands of tourists. (AP Photo/Gabe Stern, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shaken by multiple militant attacks, Pakistani authorities have locked down the capital in a major security move as senior officials from several nations arrive for an Asian security group meeting.
A three-day holiday started Monday in normally bustling Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, and Pakistan has deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to pass through. Some doctors asked police to remove barricades so that they could go to hospitals, but were instead asked to take longer routes.
The main event of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held Wednesday, when leaders and officials discuss how to boost their security cooperation and economic ties. The group was founded in 2001 by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Other members include Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Militants in recent weeks have killed dozens of people in multiple attacks in restive northwestern and southwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Security experts say militants have limited capacity to strike in Islamabad.
Pakistan often blames the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, who have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, for the violence. Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it does not allow anyone to use its soil for attacks against any country.
Two Chinese engineers were killed on Oct. 6 in a suicide bombing outside the airport in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. The attack was claimed by a separatist group.
In the past, ordinary Pakistanis used to line up on both sides of the main roads to welcome any dignitaries visiting the country, but authorities said they had to take harsh security measures because of fears of militant attacks. Only state media will be allowed to cover the meetings.
Among those attending were China’s Premier Li Qiang, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, second left, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, right, greets Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang reviews the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, third left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, third right, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang, left, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend a attends a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
