2 charged with hate crime in Hibbing brawl
HIBBING, Minn. (AP) -- Two men are charged with a hate crime following a downtown brawl in the St. Louis County community of Hibbing.
Prosecutors also charged the man the two are accused of attacking.
Criminal complaints say 21-year-old Nicholas Dulong and 23-year-old Jerry Franks approached Brian Oatis Sunday about 1 a.m. after a street dance and used several racial slurs. The 52-year-old Oatis is black. Dulong and Franks are white.
Oatis told police he punched Franks and Franks punched him back, then others got involved in the fight. The complaint says Oatis took out his pocket knife and stabbed several people.
The Duluth News Tribune says Oatis is charged with six counts of assault. Besides the hate crime, Dulong is also charged with third-degree assault. Another man accused of taking Oatis' wallet from his pocket also faces charges.
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Information from: Duluth News Tribune
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