Police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are investigating an acid attack by a white suspect on a Latin American man as a hate crime.
Mahud Villalaz, a U.S. citizen born in Peru, suffered second-degree burns on the left side of his face when the suspect allegedly threw acid on him outside a restaurant Friday night.
Villalaz said the man accused him of being in the U.S. illegally and "invading my country."
Police arrested a suspect who has not been named.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says targeting someone because he is Hispanic is horrific and wrong, and he placed some of the blame on anti-immigrant rhetoric coming out of Washington.
"Everybody knows what's happening. It's because the president is talking about it on a daily basis that people feel they have a license to go after Hispanic people," Barrett said.
The White House has not commented.
Surveillance video captured the attack. Villalaz says the suspect confronted him about a parking space. The video shows the man gesturing, then throwing liquid into Villalaz's face. Villalaz darts into the restaurant to rinse his face with water while the suspect makes no effort to run off.
