Two charged with slinging racial slurs at Black Lives Matter protesters in Hanover

Police said the men “became upset they could not voice their opinion on ‘white lives matter’ but the (protesters) could occupy a whole corner."

Mike Argento
York Daily Record

Two Hanover men have been charged with ethnic intimidation and other offenses after police say they were recorded on video slinging racial slurs at a group of peaceful protesters on the town square last Sunday. 

Willis William Shrader, 60, of the 1300 block of Carlisle Pike, and Jessie Brian Shindledecker, 44, of the 100 block of Fair Avenue, were charged with the misdemeanor charges after approaching the group “in an aggressive manner” and directing “racial slurs” at them, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case. 

The group was staging a Black Lives Matter protest in the square Sunday evening when the two men approached them. Protest organizer Leslie Mon-Lashway said the men had approached the group several times, each time becoming more aggressive. She said the police were called "as a last resort" after it became apparent the men were targeting three juveniles, the only people of color at the protest.

Protesters in Hanover's Square gathered on June 6 in support of Black Lives Matter. Two men have been charged with slinging racial slurs at a protest held Sunday.

"At first, we didn't react because it's pretty normal" for people to express their displeasure with the protesters, she said. "But they seemed pretty angry and couldn't seem to get over it."

Hanover Borough Police Officer Ryan Henry responded to the scene and spoke with protesters, who told him that the two men had “targeted three juveniles because of their race and ethnicity,” according to the complaint. 

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One protester, who had been live-streaming video of the protest, told Henry that the men were asked to leave a few times but that they kept returning, yelling the n-word at them and calling them n-word “lovers,” the complaint states. 

“The victims indicated the subjects threatened to go get ‘their boys’ and come back and cause physical harm to the members of the group,” Henry wrote in the complaint. 

Henry then approached Shrader and Shindledecker, who were seated at the fountain on the square. Shrader initially told Henry that he and Shindledecker “were concerned about the group” and “they were just trying to tell them to stay on the curb so they don’t get hit,” Henry wrote. 

After being told the encounter had been recorded on video, Henry wrote, Shrader and Shindledecker “became upset they could not voice their opinion on ‘white lives matter’ but the (protesters) could occupy a whole corner." 

In addition to being charged with ethnic intimidation, the two men were charged with disorderly conduct and harassment. 

Mon-Lashway said they will continue to conduct protests on the square every Friday evening and on some Sundays