Lombard Man Yelled Racial Slurs At Graduation Group: Police

LOMBARD, IL — A Lombard man has been accused of shouting racial slurs at members of a graduation party early Wednesday, police say. Joseph Ropinski, 55, of the 1000 block of Fairfield Street, has been charged with felony hate crime in connection with the incident.

According to police, Ropinski saw a group of individuals outside his home who were leaving a graduation party. Police say Ropinski started yelling racial slurs at the group and told them "go back to the city" and "I have a 9mm" before walking back to his house.

Ropinski is also accused of swinging at one of the members of the graduation party.

The members of the graduation party then left, police say, and a neighbor who saw the scene came and stood in the street outside of Ropinski's home. Ropinski is accused of then arming himself with a piece of wood and saying, "right here, let's go." The neighbor then left, police say.

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement, "I want to make this perfectly clear, racially-motivated crimes, such as alleged in this case, have no place in civilized society and anyone suspected as such behavior will quickly find themselves facing felony charges."

"The Village of Lombard is a proudly diverse community. Hateful criminal acts and the abhorrent behavior allegedly displayed by Mr. Ropinski are an affront to the values and beliefs of our community and will not be tolerated,” Lombard Police Chief Roy Newton said in a statement.

Newton added, “The men and women of the Lombard Police Department stand united with fellow Lombardians against any and all acts of violence and racism within our community.”

Ropinski was being held at DuPage County Jail on $5,000 bond. He is set to appear in court on June 29.