Man Defends Family With Handgun During Alleged Racist-Filled Encounter

OKALOOSA ISLAND, FLORIDA — A man was arrested and charged with a hate-crime related battery, after police say an altercation at a park led to an angry dog owner and a gun drawn.

Wade Anton, 54, was visiting Okaloosa Island, Fla., last week, when he “told a woman and her children, who are of Asian descent, to ‘go back where they came from’ and made racial slur” on Thursday, according to a Friday statement from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Anton told police that the incident began when the woman’s children were petting his dog and wouldn’t stop when asked to do so. Then, it is alleged that Anton ran towards the woman’s husband and began punching him multiple times. As Anton was running towards the husband, he drew a firearm “to protect himself.”

Witnesses to the incident were able to successfully separate the two. No one was seriously injured.