MILWAUKEE • A 61-year-old white Milwaukee man accused of throwing acid on a Hispanic man’s face will be charged with a hate crime, increasing the possible sentence he might receive if convicted, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Prosecutors filed one charge against Clifton Blackwell — first-degree reckless injury — but added the sentencing enhancers of hate crime and use of a dangerous weapon. The two enhancers could add 10 years in prison if he’s convicted of first-degree reckless injury, which is punishable by up to 25 years.

The victim, Mahud Villalaz, 42, said his attacker approached him near a restaurant Friday night and confronted him about being parked too close to a bus stop, according to charging documents. Prosecutors said Blackwell then asked, “Why did you invade my country?” and “Why don’t you respect my laws?”

Villalaz said he moved his car but that Blackwell continued to berate him, calling him “illegal” and telling him to “go back, go back,” followed by an expletive. Villalaz said he called Blackwell a racist, also using an expletive. Villalaz said Blackwell threw the acid on him after Villalaz said “everyone come from somewhere first” and that American Indians had been in the country the longest.

Surveillance video from the restaurant recorded the attack, which left Villalaz with second-degree burns on his face. Villalaz is a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Peru.

The attack on Villalaz comes at a time when the Anti-Defamation League says extreme anti-immigrant views have become part of the political mainstream in recent years through rhetoric by anti-immigration groups and politicians.

Mahud Villalaz, 42, of Milwaukee gestures to the second-degree burns on his face Saturday November 2, 2019 at a news conference one day after a man threw acid at him outside a restaurant on Milwaukee’s south side. He is joined by, from left, state Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa, his sister, and Forward Latino leader Darryl Morin. (Sophie Carson/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Sophie Carson