SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Federal officials charged a man with using a stun cane during a racially motivated assault of a neighbor, according to officials.
The indictment alleges that Mark Porter shouted racial slurs at the victim and his seven-year-old son, and then struck the victim with a stun cane. The indictment further alleges that the stun cane is a dangerous weapon and that the victim suffered bodily injury.
Porter was charged with using force and the threat of force to injure, intimidate, and interfere with an African-American man because of his race after moving nearby, according to authorities.
“…the defendant yelled ‘n—–,’ said get out of here to [Victim] and [Victim’s] seven-year-old son, and used a stun cane (a Zap Cane) to assault [Victim], resulting in bodily injury,” the indictment alleges.
The Zap Cane is advertised as a cane that contains a stun gun capable of delivering “one million volts”. The indictment classifies the Zap Cane as a “dangerous weapon,” according to Fox News 13 in Salt Lake City.
Porter was arrested in Arizona and will appear in a federal court in Arizona, Fox News reported.
Porter is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. He is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to officials.
To read the indictment click here: DOJ