Man Arrested in Racial Attack Beaten in Jail

A self-described skinhead, arrested but not charged in a racial attack on two black teenagers in Lancaster, was beaten in jail, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Friday.

Danny Williams, 22, of Lancaster was left with swelling under both eyes, lacerations around his right eye and pain in his jaw, according to reports by deputies at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, where Williams was treated in the infirmary.

The reports said Williams did not say who attacked him or why.

Williams, who was released Friday, said in an interview that someone yelled “KKK” at him just before he was punched in the back of the head and upper back by two African Americans, indicating he was beaten in retaliation for the Lancaster incident.

Williams confirmed earlier sheriff’s reports that he is a skinhead. “I just want to live with people of my own color,” he said. “Even some black people want to live with nothing but blacks.”

Williams and two Lancaster 16-year-olds were arrested for the attack Monday night on 16-year-old Marcus Cotton and his cousin, 17-year-old Angela McKenzie. Marcus was pummeled and slashed with a machete and Angela pushed to the ground and spat upon by youths who yelled “White power!”

The two youths arrested with Williams were charged Thursday with committing a hate crime and assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Williams but that he was still a suspect and the investigation will continue.

Williams, however, was not released immediately and was held another day on an outstanding traffic warrant, then set free Friday.

Williams alleged that sheriff’s deputies tipped black inmates that he was a suspect in the highly publicized Lancaster incident, which has generated heated criticism from Antelope Valley civil rights groups.

Sgt. Richard Dinsmoor, a sheriff’s spokesman, said it would have been difficult for jailers to pick Williams out a crowd of inmates in the processing area, let alone instigate an assault on him.

“I don’t think the deputies on the floor would have even known who he was,” Dinsmoor said. “We’re not talking about a jail where we’re watching nine or 10 inmates, we’re talking about a jail where we are dealing with a hundred inmates.”

The district attorney’s Hate Crimes Division is seeking to try the two teenagers as adults because the machete attack involved force likely to cause serious bodily injury. Marcus suffered a deep cut on one arm and more shallow slashes on his back. He was treated at an Antelope Valley hospital and released.