An Illinois woman has been charged with battery after things turned violent during an argument over whether or not a Black man had a right to be on a local pier.
Speaking to ABC7, Otis Campbell, 25, said that he believes the attack, which was caught on camera, was racially motivated.
Campbell says he and his friends were on Tower Pier near the Winnetka Beach when the women told them to leave, saying that she needed to see their "passes."
"As soon as she told us that we needed passes and we could not be here, this is Winnetka and she pays to be here and this is America, I took it upon myself to start recording her," Campbell said.
"There was multiple people coming down the pier doing exactly what we did," Campbell said. "The only difference was that they were white and we were black. She said that we were not American, that we needed to go back to where we belong from, she said we pay to be here."
A pier employee then explained to the woman that the group had every right to be on the pier.
"They can sit there. Do you want me to call my manager?" the employee can be heard saying on the video.
The woman, identified as 65-year-old Irene Donoshaytis, then asked Campbell, "Do you want to kill me?"
"No," he responded. "Why would I want to kill you? Is it because I am black?"
"Yes," Donoshaytis says.
Campbell says that's when she turned around and hit him.
Watch ABC7's report on the story below:
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