NASHVILLE, Ind. -- A man who claims to be a white supremacist is charged in a hatchet attack Thursday on a Brown County High School exchange student from China.
Yue Zhang says she was taking pictures for a school project in downtown Nashville when she heard a man yelling her.
According to the probable cause affidavit, she heard the man say something like, "I am going to kill you," as he followed her. Then she felt something hit her back.
Zhang was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital with serious, but non life-threatening injuries. She has since been released.
Police say they found a hatchet on the suspect, 59-year-old Dana Ericson of Brown County.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Ericson told police he struck Zhang and said, "Is it a crime to strike evil?"
The document says that Ericsoon said he was attempting to perpetuate 'ethnic cleansing' and targeted her because she was Asian.
The probable cause affidavit goes on to say that Ericson admitted he is a white supremacist who said he, "hates these people."
Ericson was booked on charges of aggravated battery causing serious permanent disfigurement, battery by means of a deadly weapon, and attempted murder.
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