Mahud Villalaz, a U.S. citizen, suffered serious burns after a man accused him of being an undocumented immigrant before throwing acid at his face.
The possible hate crime occurred in Milwaukee on Friday night after a man walked out of a restaurant and approached Villalaz, who is Peruvian-American, and told him he didn’t belong in the country. Villalaz began to explain to the attacker that everyone in the United States “came from somewhere else” before the man threw acid at Villalaz’s face from what appeared to be a water bottle.
After the attack, Villalaz told WISN that he could not open his eyes and stumbled away.
#BREAKING – Video shows the moment a man was hit with battery acid. Police arrested the culprit & call it a hate crime because the victim, who is Latino, says before he was hit by the white male suspect he called him “illegal” STORY: https://t.co/WAiX44Sx9d pic.twitter.com/pb2agxS6Go
— Chernéy Amhara (@CherneyAmharaTV) November 3, 2019
The attacker, who is 61 and appeared to be white, is currently in custody. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe Page has raised over $19,000 to help pay for Villalaz’s medical bills.
According to the FBI, hate crimes— in which the perpetrators act based on a bias against the victim’s race, color, religion, or national origin— have been on the rise in the U.S. since 2015.
