CEDAR RAPIDS — A white felon with Nazi tattoos was jailed Wednesday on a federal hate crime charge alleging he stomped on the face of a semi-conscious black man at a northeastern Iowa bar last winter.
Randy Joe Metcalf, 40, of Dubuque, made an initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon Scoles ordered him jailed pending a detention hearing Friday.
Metcalf has pleaded not guilty to two state counts of felony assault in the beating that left Lamarr Sandridge, 31, with a broken right eye socket and numerous scrapes and bruises on his face. Metcalf was free on bond Tuesday when authorities arrested him on the hate crime complaint.
His attorney in the state case, Scott Nelson, has denied the brawl — in which Metcalf allegedly beat Sandridge and one of Sandridge’s white companions when she tried to intervene— was racially motivated. The public defender’s office will represent Metcalf in federal court.
An affidavit signed by FBI special agent Thomas Reinwart paints Metcalf as a white supremacist sympathizer who showed off his swastika tattoos and repeatedly used racial slurs toward Sandridge and two white female friends in the Jan. 12 attack at the North Side Bar in Dubuque.
Metcalf had been drinking with his fiancee for several hours before they got into an argument with Sandridge’s group over the jukebox. Metcalf directed racial slurs toward Sandridge and the women, eventually leading to a brawl that was captured on surveillance video, the complaint said.
A white acquaintance of Metcalf, 41-year-old Jeremy M. Sanders, put Sandridge in a headlock. His son, Joseph Sanders, 21, repeatedly punched Sandridge in the face until he was motionless on the ground. Metcalf then kicked and stomped on Sandridge’s face and head until the bartender pushed him off and told everyone to leave.
By then, court documents say, Sandridge was “in a semi-conscious state” on the floor. However, Metcalf again kicked and stomped on his face before he was pushed away by Sarah Kiene. Metcalf hit the 29-year-old woman in the face with the back of his hand, knocking her out. Kiene suffered a fractured right cheek bone.
Metcalf later used a racial epithet to describe Sandridge, saying, “He got what he had coming,” Reinwart wrote.
Metcalf had earlier displayed a large swastika tattoo on his abdomen, telling Jeremy Sanders: “This is what I’m about.” Another tattoo on his shoulder shows a swastika on a skull. Metcalf also has a tattoo on his chest that reads “FRYS” — the name of an Iowa prison gang linked to the white supremacist movement, Reinwart wrote.
Metcalf caused bodily injury to Sandridge “because of his race,” Reinwart wrote.
A listed phone number for Sandridge rang unanswered. He has told investigators he doesn’t remember anything from that night.
Metcalf “has a significant, violent criminal history” spanning 20 years, including burglary, domestic abuse and child endangerment convictions that have landed him in prison, Reinwart wrote.
First Assistant Dubuque County Attorney Chris Corken said her office supports the decision to file federal charges, and that it took a year for that to happen because the Justice Department follows a rigorous review process in such cases. If convicted, Metcalf faces up to 10 years in prison — likely a stiffer sentence than if he’s found guilty on the state charges.
The state could not file a hate crime enhancement, which is generally used to turn misdemeanor assaults into felonies, because Metcalf was already charged with felonies. One of the counts will be dismissed, and prosecutors are considering how to proceed with the count relating to Kiehn’s beating, Corken said.
Jeremy and Joseph Sanders pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault charges and were sentenced to probation.
A city of 60,000 across the Mississippi River from Wisconsin, Dubuque is often praised for its economy and government, but it has a history of troubled race relations prompting federal intervention. In 2013, a scathing Department of Housing and Urban Development report alleged that the city’s housing practices intentionally discriminated against African-Americans.