Attorney General Aaron Frey announced that he has filed a complaint under the Maine Civil Rights Act in the Androscoggin County Superior Court against Andrea Ouellette, age 65, of Lewiston, Maine.
According to the Complaint, Ouellette confronted a 31-year-old Black man while he was outside speaking with his neighbor in November of 2023. Ouellette called the victim a racial epithet and assaulted him by throwing a pumpkin at his head. After the assault, Ouellette yelled at the victim, “Go back to your own country!” The victim suffered a broken tooth, broken nose, and swollen face and required surgery as a result of the assault.
In January, Ouellette confronted a 48-year-old Black woman, when the victim parked her car near Ouellette’s residence. Ouellette began yelling that she could not park there, and approached the second victim with a knife, screaming racial epithets and telling her to “go back to your country or I will [expletive] kill you!”
The Lewiston Police Department promptly investigated both incidents and criminal charges are currently pending.
The Attorney General’s Complaint under the Civil Rights Act requests a civil injunction prohibiting Ouellette from having any contact with the victims or their families and from violating the Maine Civil Rights Act in the future.
“Maine should be a place where everyone, no matter what race, feels safe to live and thrive,” said Attorney General Frey. “I will use the Maine Civil Rights Act to its fullest extent to stop racist threats and violence.”
The Maine Civil Rights Act authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action against any person who uses physical force or violence, the threat of physical force or violence, property damage or the threat of property damage against another person motivated by bias against the other person’s race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. A knowing violation of an order issued under the Civil Rights Act is a Class D crime punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
The Attorney General’s Office would like to thank the Lewiston Police Department for their work on the case.
Original source can be found here.