Man convicted in racist 2019 acid attack in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A jury has convicted a white Milwaukee man who was accused of throwing acid on a Latino man’s face during a racist attack in 2019. Sixty-four-year-old Clifton Blackwell, was found guilty Thursday of first-degree reckless injury, with a dangerous weapon, as a hate crime. He faces up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing May 18. The jury rejected Blackwell’s argument that he acted in self-defense after arguing with Mahud Villalaz over street parking in November 2019 in Milwaukee. He accused Villalaz, who suffered second-degree burns, of being in the country illegally and invading the United States. Blackwell was taken into custody after the verdict.