This is What Road Rage and Racism Look Like

Horrible To See and Hear, Let Alone Experience

These days racism is often so inflated in meanings and application that its force and significance is lost.  A quizzical glance can be interpreted as racist.  "Meaning inflation" has bad consequences.  It reduces the concept to generalities.  In the end, everybody can be called labelled as racist, making racism ordinary, banal, and stupid. 

A case was heard recently in the high court in Auckland, NZ.  It illustrated what racism really is like--and the consequences which flow from it for all of us. 

'Racially Motivated' Road Rage Attack

Sam Hurley
NZ Herald

A young man has admitted a prolonged and vicious "racially motivated" road rage attack on a family in which he rammed their car off the road, sending two children flying through the air.  Fraser Milne, 21, appeared today in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Sally Fitzgerald where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and four charges of injuring with reckless disregard for safety.  The Paeroa man was convicted and will be sentenced in July.

In March last year a Chinese-New Zealand family, including their two children aged 12 and 10, were enjoying a Sunday day out picking blueberries and driving around the Awhitu Peninsula near Auckland.  A family friend was also in the car.

However, as Milne was driving over a hill and passed the family's car he was forced to swerve to avoid a collision, court documents provided to the Herald show.  Believing the family had crossed over to his side of the road, Milne was forced to drive into a drain and struck a fence.

Angered, Milne turned his car around and chased the family. He passed them at speed before doing a u-turn to cut them off.  He then confronted the family and demanded they pay for the damage to his car.  Milne, angry, shouting and swearing, also told them he belonged to a gang and was going to kill them.

The family attempted to call police but the phone reception was poor so they returned to their car and fled.  But, as they looked in the rear view mirror they noticed Milne following them, quickly catching up.  The family were forced to stop their car due to Milne's erratic driving.  Milne ramped up his threats as he approached the family's car with his blue-nosed pit bull dog.

Afraid, the family locked themselves in the vehicle, as Milne began hitting the car and yelled that his dog was going to eat the family.  The terrified family quickly fled again.  However, Milne's racial rage would return.

After abusing the family, he drove to a nearby group of shops and vented his anger to several locals.  He said Asians were "taking over the country" and "f**king Asians" had damaged his car.  Milne also made a racist remark about the shape of the family's eyes and said they had run away because he would get "the pieces of sh*t" deported.

By chance, as he was carrying out his racist tirade at the shops, Milne spotted the family driving past.  He quickly returned to his car to give chase, driving at such a speed he caused his wheels to spin and narrowly avoided hitting another car.  Milne chased the family for about 7km and reached speeds of 140km/h, court documents show.

After catching the family he pulled up alongside them on the wrong side of the road and demanded the family pull over.  The family refused to stop, so Milne deliberately rammed their car, causing it to spin out of control, crash into a bank and flip in the air.  The family's car then landed upside down on top of Milne's car before sliding off when he braked suddenly.

The two children were violently thrown from the car during the crash after they had taken off their seatbelts because they were frightened of Milne and thought they might need to make a hurried exit from the car.  They landed on the road, narrowly avoiding a steep 100m deep ravine.  Despite the two children lying injured, Milne approached the car to continue his racist attack.  "Get out of the f**king car, I'm going to smash you! You f**king Asian c***! F**king Asians!" Milne yelled.

Locals arrived shortly after to help the family while Milne yelled out to his dog.  At no time did Milne attempt to offer assistance to the family, court documents read.  The family were all taken to hospital, with one of the children transported to Starship Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter with an undisplaced fracture to his skull, a laceration to his scalp and a small subdural haematoma.  The family friend also suffered a spine fracture.  The other three in the car were lucky to suffer only grazes and bruises.
When Milne was questioned by police he said he could tell the family weren't citizens.

  He also said he presumed they were on an "illegal visa" and "Asian mafia" who had spent "two days in the country".  Milne told police he was "at boiling point" when he saw the family drive past him at the shops and that "any Asian in general [he] wanted to hurt".

He admitted to taking out the family's car and said he had "so many emotions rolling through [his brain]".  When Milne rammed the car he thought, "someone's gonna come out of it dead" and "this is it ... if they wanna kill me, let them kill me".  He also admitted he "felt like killing" the father of the family and wanted to "grab his neck and strangle him".

Crown prosecutor Jasper Rhodes said the incident was a "very serious racial motivated attack on a family".  "Everyone is incredibly lucky that nobody came out of this dead."  Justice Fitzgerald remanded Milne on bail until his sentencing and gave him a first strike warning.

The attitudes, beliefs and actions on display that day would not have been out of character.  Something this extreme, this evil would have been nurtured over many months and years.  On that day they were unmasked.  They displayed the real face of genuine racism.