RENO, Nevada — According to a criminal complaint made public Thursday, a Nevada man charged with a hate crime admitted that he used the phrase “hanging tree” during a fight with a Black man who was collecting signatures for a planned ballot measure southeast of Reno.
On Wednesday, Gary Miller, 74, his wife, and their adult daughter were all arrested for different crimes. Court records show that they paid bail hours later and were let out of the Storey County jail.
Ricky Johnson, the black man, started recording the argument after the “hanging tree” comment because it got hot. People on both sides were swearing at each other during a classic car show in Virginia City, a tourist spot in the Old West. As soon as the video starts, Johnson tells Miller to say what he said off-camera again.
There is an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint that says he told Miller earlier that “there was a hanging tree down the road to go hang out there,” but Miller didn’t listen. Later, Miller told the detective that he had been told that. In one part of the video, Johnson asks Miller where that tree is, and Miller says, “Over there.”
Officials in the area and the state quickly spoke out against the comments made on August 2.
Miller, his wife, and his daughter were arrested on Wednesday. Nevada’s black attorney general, Aaron Ford, quickly praised the police.
The public spoke out loud and clear, and steps have been taken to hold these people responsible for their racist and illegal acts, Ford said.
Miller is being charged with making too much noise and trouble with the peace. According to the complaint made by Storey County District Attorney Anne M. Langer, the second one has an enhancement because police say Miller’s actions were based on race.
Johnson is led into the street by Miller’s wife, Janis Miller, who is seen on the video. She is charged with beating Johnson. Tiffany Miller, the Millers’ adult daughter, is charged with being in the way of a police officer and slowing them.
It’s not clear if any of the Millers have a lawyer who can talk for them. Wednesday, they all turned down a public attorney. Langer’s office and the sheriff’s office both didn’t know if the Millers had a lawyer.
If they are found guilty of most of the charges against them, they could spend up to six months in jail. Thursday calls and emails sent to a phone number and email address for Gary Miller that are mentioned in public records were not answered right away.
A company in Texas asked Johnson, who lives outside of Houston, to get people to sign something. He told The Associated Press earlier this week that the argument with Gary Miller on August 2 got hot when Miller used a racial slur right before he started recording.
The AP has asked Johnson for more information several times by email, text message, and call, but Johnson has not replied.
A deputy who was looking into the case was told by Miller that Johnson started yelling at him and “going crazy” when he told Johnson he was going to vote for Trump. “There was a hanging tree down the road, and to go hang out there,” Miller said.
Records show that when Deputy Jacob Smiley asked Miller to explain what he meant, Miller said, “he grew up in different times.”
Miller didn’t say anything about the racial slur in the tape or the interview with the police.
Miller told the sheriff’s office in a handwritten note that Johnson was trying to “draw a crowd and escalate the situation” and was also calling him and his wife at “all hours of the night” to make threats.
The video has led to several threats against businesses and company owners in the area, according to Undersheriff Eric Kern. The sheriff’s office is looking into at least one act of vandalism at a local business. When asked late Thursday night if any of those threats were aimed at the Millers, the office did not reply right away.