A man at the center of a viral road rage video is facing serious charges after being identified and arrested by authorities in California. Earlier this week (May 18), REVOLT reported on the shocking footage that showed a white man aggressively driving a white Jeep Wrangler as he berated at least one individual in another vehicle carrying Black occupants.
“F**k you, n**ger! F**k you, n**ger,” repeatedly exclaimed the man, whose identity was confirmed to be Tracy Robert Blackwell by CBS News on Friday (May 19). At one point during the racist tirade that saw him continuously yell out “n**ger” from the driver’s side window, Blackwell appeared to nearly swerve into the other driver’s vehicle. He then seemingly loses control of his Jeep before colliding with the wall on the right shoulder of the highway.
While the footage began circulating on May 17, the California Highway Patrol was able to ascertain information that revealed the encounter took place on Tuesday (May 16) around 4 p.m. on southbound Interstate Highway 880 near Hegenberger Road in Oakland.
Man decided it was more important to yell the hard R during a road rage incident then to pay attention to the road.pic.twitter.com/cZb7I84EKB
— ChudsOfTikTok (@ChudsOfTikTok) May 18, 2023
Blackwell, 61, was arrested on Friday and booked into the Alameda County Jail. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime enhancements. He is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday (May 23). According to Fox 2, run-ins with the law are hardly new for the previously convicted man, who has a rap sheet with a disturbing offense. More than two decades ago, in 2001, Blackwell was found guilty of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.
A deeper dive into his past by SF Gate uncovered that in 2000, detectives were investigating Blackwell in connection with stalking and making obscene phone calls to a 19-year-old woman’s home. During their probe, investigators located videotapes of Blackwell sexually abusing the child. He spent eight years in prison for the latter offense and was released in 2009. Per California protocol, he was required to register as a sex offender on the Megan’s Law website.