A man found guilty of attempted murder and assault in Hawaii showed up to his sentencing hearing in blackface and made a bizarre racial rant to the judge.
Mark Char, now 60, stabbed three people in a road rage incident in 2016. He told the judge he was defending himself from attackers.
Char told the court why he appeared in blackface.
“Now this kangaroo court is trying to give me a life sentence for me trying to protect and defend myself against the attack from three guys ― in essence, treating me like a black man,” Char said, via Hawaii News Now. “So today, I’m going to be a black man,” he added.
The move didn’t appear to buy him any favors.
“The way it came across to me was, ‘look you’re supposed to treat black folks like this, not me,’” University of Hawaii Law Professor Kenneth Lawson told KITV.
Lawson also was not impressed with the judge or Char’s lawyer for allowing this in his courtroom.
“To allow that proceeding to happen as if that man isn’t sitting there with blackface on, to me it’s reprehensible. I know we don’t have a large black population in Hawaii but I wouldn’t let a client come in and mock any race,” Lawson added.
In the 2016 incident, Char and two men in another vehicle pulled off to the side of the road, got out and a confrontation ensued. Char pulled out a knife and stabbed a 22-year-old man repeatedly. A 23-year-old from the same car was also stabbed. A third person, who pulled over to try to break up the fight, was also stabbed, according to Hawaii News Now.
Char was given a life sentence with possibility for parole on charges of second-degree attempted murder, along with concurrent sentences of six years on second-degree and third-degree assault charges, NBC News reported.
The Department of Public Safety says Char colored his face with a marker before entering court. Department of Public Safety personnel told KITV that prison officials tried to get Char to wash the black ink off his face before court, but he refused.
“What you need to do is look in the mirror. And if you look in the mirror, Mr. Char, you’re not gonna see a black person. You’re gonna see a menace. You’re gonna see a menace to society,” Judge Todd Eddins told Char in court.
Char is expected to face additional punishment for showing up in blackface.
Before the 2016 road rage attack, Char already had numerous pending felony charges against him. Other cases included ones for terroristic threatens, assault, weapons charges, and negligent injury, according to an earlier report from Hawaii News Now.
Victims and neighbors of Char don’t understand why he was still a free man, at least before the 2016 road rage case. He had allegedly caused bodily harm to others in previous incidents, also those involving his vehicle.
In 2014, he allegedly intentionally hit a man who was riding on a motorcycle, sending him flying into a parked car.
“His head was slashed open. His shoulder was separated. His left foot was (broken),” said the wife of the victim, via Hawaii News Now.
A neighbor described a road rage encounter with Char, also from 2016, but before the stabbing.
The neighbor said Char hit his car from behind.
“I saw it was him so I told him, ‘watch where you’re going’ and then he stopped and he came out and he started shooting me with pepper spray,” the neighbor told Hawaii News Now. “He started kicking me in the ribs with his boots, I started screaming for help,”
“If he was put away, I wouldn’t have to worry about this man,” added the neighbor, via Hawaii News Now. “Time and time again he’s been doing this.”
