Florida man arrested for screaming N-word at prominent Black historian and attempting to run him over

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A Florida man has been arrested after attempting to run over a Black historian while screaming racial epithets.

David Allen Emanuel, 61, was arrested after his alleged attack against a group of seven people standing outside of a property in Rosewood, including Florida International University professor emeritus Dr Marvin Dunn and his son Douglas Dunn, the Miami Herald reported.

Dr Dunn said the group was discussing plans to build an educational house about the state’s racist history on the property he purchased ten years ago when Mr Emanuel approached them, asking what they were doing and why Mr Dunn’s car was parked outside Mr Emanuel’s property.

When Dr Dunn attempted to explain that it was legal to park on the road, Mr Emanuel allegedly went inside his pickup truck and drove towards the group while screaming the n-word at them. Dr Dunn said his son was nearly hit.

The incident was reported to police but an arrest was not made until several days later on Monday, following demands from Dr Dunn via email and on social media to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the incident. The incident, Dr Dunn told the Miami New Times, happened at the only Black-owned property in Rosewood, a once prospering prominently Black community that was mostly destroyed during a racial massacre in 1923.

Dr Dunn told the Times that he wanted to build a “peace house” on his five-acre property to honour the lives lost a century ago. However, the altercation has made it harder for him to focus on his endeavour.

“He went into a rage. Started screaming at us and calling us ‘n*****s’” he told the Times. “Then he guns his truck at us at full speed and makes this attempt to hit us.”

Dr Dunn shared the attack with his more than 11,000 followers on Twitter and decried Levy County Sheriff’s Office’s alleged initial lack of commitment to the investigation.

“To the Levy County Sheriff, I spent six years in the uniform of a United States naval officer who now, at age 82 was assaulted by a racist with a truck calling me a [n-word],” he wrote on the social media platform. “My disappointment is not in my country but in a sheriff’s department that won’t even ask me about it.

Mr Emanuel’s arrest warrant was signed by a judge and he was detained on Monday. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and his bond was set at $50,000.

Dr Dunn thanked his followers for sharing the story and tweeted, “America works.”

“I feel more respected ... feel as if I got listened to,” he told the Herald. “The police did their job.”