Black Man Assaulted in Hibbing

On July 15, during the annual street dance in Hibbing, Minnesota, a 52 year old African-American man, Brian Oatis, was attacked and beaten unconscious by a group of white racists.

The fight began around 1am when two white men, 21-year-old Nicholas Dulong and 23-year-old Jerry Franks, approached Oatis, who was walking to his car.  Dulong and Franks began yelling racist epithets.  Things quickly got physical and Oatis drew a knife to defend himself.  Nearby security cameras showed a crowd of whites knocking Oatis down, and repeatedly hitting and kicking him.  He injured three of his attackers with his knife during the melee.

By the time police arrived on the scene, the beating was still going on, but Oatis was laying on the ground unconscious.  However, but the time the police arrived the man was laying on the street, bloody and unconscious.  A crowd of whites in the double digits was still beating and kicking Oatis when they arrived.  His wallet was also stolen.

Initially 16 people were arrested in this outrageous racist assault.  The two initiators of the fight, Dulong and Franks have been charged with a hate crime.  However, unfathomably, authorities are also filing charges against Brian Oatis for injuring three of his attackers in self-defense.  The Northern Worker denounces the racists who initiated this heinous attack, and demand that the charges against Brian Oatis be dropped.  Self-defense is not a crime! 

> The article above was written by Adam Ritscher.