Man charged with hate crime against white people

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged with a hate crime on Thursday after he allegedly threatened to kill white people at a Walgreens in Columbia on Feb. 27.

Mark Elliot Lewis, 47, was charged with harassment motivated by discrimination to frighten or disturb another person. He is being held at the Boone County Jail on a $75,000 bond. His address is listed as Raytown on Casenet, but is listed as Columbia, according to jail records.

According to the probable cause statement, Lewis walked into a Walgreens location in Columbia –whose address was redacted in court documents – and started yelling at a pharmacy tech to a point where it scared her. Lewis was apparently yelling for her to get him his medication, according to court documents. The tech was apparently helping another customer when Lewis started yelling, the statement says.

Lewis had apparently identified himself while asking for his medication. Lewis then allegedly told the tech, “I’m gonna start killing white people,” court documents say. The tech allegedly told law enforcement that she thought Lewis was going to pull out a gun, or come back to the store in 10 minutes and harm people.