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Tommy Dean Gaa, a 65-year-old White man from northwest Missouri, was charged with felony assault after he threatened a Black waitress with lynching. Gaa is formerly charged with felony assault motivated by racial discrimination.

The incident took place in the town of Maryville, which according to the latest census numbers is 92 percent white. As reported by local publication, Maryville Daily Forum, Gaa’s hate crime occurred Jan. 25 when he was ordering breakfast at a local establishment.

The Daily Forum has more:

Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice on Wednesday announced that he has filed a felony assault charge against Tommy Dean Gaa, 65, Maryville, in connection with an alleged hate crime.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Maryville Public Safety Officer Adam James, Gaa was taken into custody after ordering breakfast at a local business on Sunday, Jan. 25, where he was waited on by an African-American employee.

The employee, according to James’ statement, asked Gaa if he wanted white or wheat toast, and Gaa allegedly responded by saying, “I’m prejudiced. I’ll take white.”

Moments later, Gaa is said to have approached the employee, allegedly grabbing her arm in a manner that caused bruising and asking her if she “liked to party.”

According to the probable cause statement, Gaa then allegedly said, “I have a place I would like to take you where I hung your grandpa.”

The report stated the employee then left the part of the business open to the public and returned to a kitchen area.

Gaa denied the crime at first, but later admitted to some of the acts but there are no reports of what exactly those actions were. The officer’s report regarding the arrest shows that Gaa also used a derogatory term to describe Black people. Gaa was released from jail on a $4,900 bond.

The town is also the site of a 1931 lynching that garnered national attention and sparked the creation of the Wagner-Costigan bill that would have made the prevention of lynching by law enforcement a federal offense.

[h/t Raw Story]

Photo: City of Maryville