Man Accused Of Launching Racist Rant At Loop Starbucks Charged With Hate Crimes

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 12, 2017 6:30PM



Boucher, via Facebook

The Chicago man who hurled racist comments inside a Loop Starbucks, and punched a 59-year-old black man outside the coffee shop, has been charged with felony hate crimes over the incident.

William Boucher had initially been charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery; but he now faces charges of felony hate crime and felony aggravated battery in a public place.

The incident, which happened in June, was captured on video by an ABC7 photographer. A man identified as Boucher is seen shouting "Shut up slave! Do not talk to me!" at a black man and other patrons in the Starbucks, near State and Lake. The man got lived after someone spilled coffee on him, police said.

"Your children are disposable vermin," Boucher also shouts in the video. "Get on all fours right now! Get on all fours!" He also allegedly spit on a 30-year-old black man and a 34-year-old black woman.

Later in the video Boucher is seen punching a 59-year-old black man outside the Starbucks, in an attack police called "unprovoked." Witnesses were eventually able to hold Boucher down and restrain him until law enforcement arrived and took him into custody.

Boucher also "said a lot of stuff that didn’t make it on the video," Gerald Mitchell, who was spit during the tirade, told the Sun-Times. He said he was kneed several times by Boucher while trying to pin him down while waiting for police to get there.

Boucher is currently being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. His next court date is October 10, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.