Racist white man of West Allis, Wisconsin sentenced to federal prison for harassing Black neighbor

William McDonald faces a maximum sentence of up to 11 years in prison.

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A West Allis man accused of threatening his neighbors of color and slashing their car tires has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison.

William McDonald was charged last year with interfering with another person's housing rights because of their race – a federal hate crime. He pleaded guilty to one felony count and one misdemeanor count.

FOX6 News was there when he was arrested outside his apartment near 84th and Mitchell. Federal agents searched McDonald's pockets before searching his car. Inside the car, court records said, agents found a note with a racial slur in a sandwich bag – similar to one placed on a couple's car a few blocks away.

"Another note saying, ‘Get out of the neighborhood,’ telling me, ‘Go back to the north side,' pretty much," said Reginald Wilkerson.

FOX6 spoke with the couple, Wilkerson and Tanathie Addison, about the threatening notes at the time. In all, they had seven tires slashed and a window broken. Court records state they were only two of nine total victims in the neighborhood.

Because other victims came forward, court records said the FBI set up video surveillance of the area. That surveillance, as well as cameras, from an apartment building, helped connect the threats to McDonald.