CHANDLER, Ariz. — Editor's note: The above video aired during a previous broadcast.
The leader of a national neo-Nazi group was booked into the Chandler-Gilbert jail after pointing a gun at a Black man, witnesses told the Chandler Police Department.
The man, 45-year-old Burt Colucci, is the leader of the National Socialist Movement, a U.S. based neo-Nazi organization. He was arrested for spraying pepper spray and threatening to kill a Black man during an argument, court paperwork shows.
Colucci is a resident of Florida, but was in the Phoenix area for a scheduled neo-Nazi demonstration that happened on Saturday.
An officer who arrived at the scene near Price and Queen Creek roads said the arrest was made after two separate incidents involving a group of white men, including Colucci, arguing with Black men.
The officer responded to the scene for the first time after receiving a call reporting a disturbance, court paperwork shows. The Black men were no longer at the scene when the officer arrived.
The two white men still at the scene, including Colucci, said the argument started when the white men confronted the Black men with racial slurs for throwing trash out of their vehicle into the parking lot, the officer said in a statement.
Colucci also reportedly told the officer that he took out his handgun during the argument, but didn't point it at anyone. No arrests were made as there was only one side of the story, the officer said.
Another call was made hours later at the same scene to which the same officer responded, court paperwork shows.
One of the Black men who was at both incidents said Colucci threw trash on their car, used racial slurs, sprayed pepper spray, and threatened to kill him and the men he was with, the officer said. An independent third-party witness said they also saw Colucci point a handgun at the victim.
Colucci was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into jail while awaiting trial.