Men tried in beating of black trooper

DETROIT -- Two white men accused of beating a black state trooper for dancing with a white woman at a bar face a second trial Wednesday in an overwhelmingly white county that has long had a racist reputation.

Local leaders say they would like nothing better than ridding themselves of the racist image that has clung to once-rural Livingston County, now a fast-growing part of suburban Detroit's outer fringe.

The case stems from an attack last April on off-duty Trooper Arthur Williams III on the dance floor of the Metropolis Bar & Grill in Brighton. Williams, 33, was dancing with former Livingston County Assistant Prosecutor Paulina Muzzin.

Authorities said two cousins, angry at seeing a black man dancing with a white woman, shouted racial slurs, punched Williams and smashed his face with a bottle. He underwent surgery to rebuild an eye socket.

Jasen Barker, 22, and Travis Sales, 21, were jailed on ethnic intimidation and assault charges. Their trial in November ended in a deadlocked jury.

The charges against Barker carry up to 12 years, while Sales could get up to six years.

"I am really pleased that our prosecutor is pursuing this," said Howell City Councilman Steve Manor, a retired teacher and co-founder of the racial tolerance group Livingston 2001. "This behavior will not be tolerated."

The defendants' attorneys declined comment Monday. But at the first trial, the defense argued that the incident was a bar fight that got out of control.

Livingston County's reputation for racism stems from Ku Klux Klan grand dragon Robert Miles, whose farm near Howell was a hotbed of white supremacist activity in the 1970s and '80s.