'Go back to Milwaukee': 2 charged in hate crime against Sheboygan family

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Two men are facing hate crime charges after Sheboygan police say they attacked a local family.

The Sheboygan family says they were victims of a racist attack, both physically and verbally. Christalla McKinnie was driving home with her aunt on July 4 when they made a U-turn on a dead-end street. She says a group of people approached the car and started shouting at them.

"I was scared for my life, definitely scared for my life," McKinnie said. "They were calling us (n-word), saying go back to Milwaukee, throwing beer cans at the car."

McKinnie's aunt told police two of the suspects hit her, knocking her glasses off her face. McKinnie called her parents for help, saying the suspects tried to drag her into their house. "The dude is like, 'Hang these (n-word)," she said.

When her dad, Gregory Thomas, got there, he says the suspects surrounded him. One person had a shovel, and another a knife.

"The guy came out with a shovel, I got my hands up so it wouldn't hit me in the face, so he hit me in the side, twice," Thomas said.

Six attackers were arrested. Scott and Ryan Roeder are both facing hate crime charges. 

"My nephew asked me, 'Uncle G, why did they want to hang you from a tree?' I couldn't give him no answer for that," Thomas said.

McKinnie's mom says they're thinking of moving. "I never thought this still happened in this day and age," she said.

McKinnie's father is being charged with disorderly conduct. He says he was just defending himself. Thomas will be in court on August 19.