The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office is beefing up its Hate Crimes Unit by appointing an assistant prosecutor tasked with prosecuting people accused of ethnic intimidation and other related crimes.
The unit is being funded by an $800,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program. Macomb is one of 16 recipients of the grant.
In Michigan, ethnic intimidation is a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. The law prohibits physical contact or property damage based on a person’s race, religion, gender, or national origin.
Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Coletta was appointed to lead the unit. Coletta, a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, has worked as an assistant prosecutor in Macomb County since March 2015. He previously served as an assistant prosecutor in Wayne County from 2011 to 2015.
“I appointed Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Colletta to head our Hate Crimes Unit to affirm my commitment to confronting intolerance and bigotry,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement Thursday. “Hate Crimes undermine the foundation of our society, and my office is dedicated to fostering a community where every resident can live without fear and discrimination.”
Lucido added, “Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. Our Hate Crimes Unit represents our joint endeavor to hasten that bend, ensuring equality, dignity, and compassion for all.”
Macomb, the third largest county in the state, has become increasingly diverse over the past two decades. The county has also lurched to the far right politically, becoming a stronghold for Donald Trump.
Political analysts have said white voters in Macomb County have an almost-religious devotion to Trump and his anti-immigration message to “Make America Great Again.”
The Great Lakes Active Club, a Michigan-based neo-fascist group, has been meeting in Macomb County for mixed-martial arts training and to affix white supremacy stickers to light poles and other public property.
In 2020, a Warren man was charged with three counts of ethnic intimidation for targeting a Black family in the Macomb County city by slashing their tires, hurling a rock through their window, scrawling racist graffiti on their cars, and firing shots into their home. Six 9mm shell casings were found outside their home.
In September 2021, a Macomb County woman was charged with ethnic intimidation and assault for assaulting a Black Muslim passenger aboard a Spirit Airline flight to Detroit.
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