By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) The African-American man who is pursuing hate crime allegations against a suburban woman who called him the n-word, tells WLS he does not intend to drop the case. Ernest Crim told “The Big John and Ray Show” on WLS , that the altercation with 26-year old Jessica Sanders of Alsip last summer at Chicago’s South Shore Cultural Center, profoundly impacted him. “The fact remains that what she did that day has changed my life forever whether you know it or not or whether she knows it or not. Even if I drop this case for some reason, I still have to deal with it. My wife was still assaulted, she was still spit on, and we still have to deal with the stress that comes along with that. Being an African-American person in America, I’ve dealt with situations like this overtly and covertly for my entire life.”
Cook County prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against Sanders after Crim recorded her on his phone repeatedly calling him the n-word, and then spitting at Crim’s wife during “Margarita Fest” at the Cultural Center on July 31st.
After the recording went viral, authorities charged Sanders with battery, and two felony counts of a hate crime. On Tuesday Sanders told Big John and Ray she is sorry. “I would apologize to him, because it was wrong of me to say that specific word. I should have called him ignorant I should have said something else, but either way I mean, he’s not going to accept it but it is out there. I would have said it before I got charged. I mean, it was wrong of me.”
Sanders says the argument stemmed from a dispute over a bean bag toss game. She says she is not a racist, and to her the n-word is synonymous with someone being an ignorant person. “Caucasian, Asian, purple, pink, it doesn’t matter what color you are”, Sanders said, “If you’re being ignorant, you’re being ignorant. We were in the middle of a game. I respectfully went up to her. I don’t understand how it go so blown out of proportion that it needed to get this far. I have nieces and nephews of African-American descent. I have plenty of friends. I have a very diverse group of friends. I’ve been like that. I make friends wherever I go. I have friends of every race, every ethnicity, everything.”
However Crim told WLS he is not interested in accepting Sanders apology. “The only reason she wants to apologize now is because she got arrested and she didn’t think that was going to happen.”
Crim, who is a Joliet High School teacher, also says by pursuing this, he hopes to send a message to his students.
“I just really want to use this to also inspire kids to let them know that you don’t always have to react violently. You can you know, hopefully trust the justice system and do things the way you are supposed to.”
@ 2016 WLS-AM News
