Decatur man faces hate crime charge

MOWEAQUA — A Decatur man faces a hate crime charge after a confrontation last month with another man outside a small-town restaurant.

Moweaqua police Chief Robert Maynard says 50-year-old Charles C. Williams was arrested and charged with the felony Friday. Police say he didn't respond to requests to meet with them about the July 16 incident. Moweaqua is 15 miles south of Decatur.

Maynard says Williams was headed into the restaurant to pick up a pizza when he called a 21-year-old black man standing outside a racial slur and pointed his finger at him as if his hand was a gun. Maynard says the men didn't know each other and witnesses said Williams wasn't provoked.

Williams has not entered a plea. A call to a telephone number listed to him wasn't answered.