The case will go to grand jury

Local NAACP officials have called for Judge Bill Weisenberger to step down or cease hearing cases until a full investigation is complete

A Madison County Justice Court judge has been indicted and arrested over allegations he struck a mentally disabled man and used racial slurs while working as a security guard at an event in Canton.

Judge Bill Weisenberger turned himself in to the Madison County Sherif's office, authorities said.

Last year, the family of the 20-year-old African-American man, Eric Rivers, filed a police complaint against Weisenberger in connection with the May 8 incident at a flea market.

Madison County Justice Court Judge Bill Weisenberger was indicted today for allegedly assaulting a mentally disabled black man in 2014

'The law does not discriminate, and the Grand Jury has given us our marching orders,' Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told the Jackson Free Press. 'The law does not discriminate. We look forward to presenting the facts of this case in court.'

Weisenberger was released on a $10,000 bond and could be put behind bars for five years if convicted.

Witnesses told The Clarion-Ledger that Weisenberger, who is white, struck the young man and yelled racial slurs, telling the man to 'Run, n-----, run.'

William Truly of a Mississippi NAACP chapter said Weisenberger should stop hearing cases or resign pending an investigation.

'This is 2014,' Truly told The Clarion-Ledger 'not 1960, where someone could slap a young man and call out, 'Run, n-----, run.'

The judge is accused of striking the mentally disabled man and using racial slurs while working as a security guard at a flea market

Cathy Hendrix of Tuscaloosa, a vendor at the Canton Flea Market, told The Clarion-Ledger that she and other vendors rely on local people to help load and unload their vehicles, paying for the help.

On May 8, she saw Rivers standing on the sidewalk, asking if they needed help, she said. “That young man was wanting to work to earn money to buy a bike.”

William Truly of the Canton NAACP has asked that the judge resign or at least stop hearing cases pending a full investigation

Her sister, Tammy Westbrook, also of Tuscaloosa, told the newspaper she saw Weisenberger “rear back and slap” Rivers twice and use a racial epithet as the Rivers ran.