JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kevin Troy Williamson, 59, appeared in court Saturday after being arrested on battery charges in connection with an assault that was caught on video. He was released on bond, late on Saturday night.
A judge confirmed that Williamson was arrested for an incident that happened at a BP gas station at 3551 University Blvd. in Jacksonville, the location of an assault on Rayme McCoy that was caught on video.
First Coast News spoke to McCoy after the video of her being punched several times by a man at BP was shared online Monday.
The video, which shows a White male attacking McCoy, a Black woman, quickly went viral.
The man in the video appears to be Williamson. McCoy told First Coast News the man in the video is him.
"I went in BP to get gas and I was walking in...there was a guy arguing with an Indian guy and when I walked around him to go inside, he came in after me and was basically yelling 'y'all kind, you need to go back where you came from,'" McCoy recalled. "I'm pushing his beers away from me and once I pushed the beers away from me, he started punching me in my head."
When Williamson appeared in Duval County court Saturday, the judge noted that he is a registered sex offender who has an outstanding charge for failure to register.
Records show that Williamson is on the registry due to a sexual assault involving a minor in 1990. He failed to register in 2002 but does not appear to have failed to register since then.
The incident occurred in Washington state, but records show that Williamson has lived in Jacksonville for nine years.
Williamson was previously charged in a battery with a deadly weapon case, but the charges were dropped.
Bond for Williamson is set at $20,003. During his first appearance, he asked the judge if he could have bond reduced to $0.
"I'm not a flight risk. I've fulfilled, for 33 years, the state's registration requirements," he said -- he did not note the past failure to register
The judge told Williamson that he is not allowed to contact the victim, witnesses or any co-defendants. She said that he will be arrested again if makes contact or returns to the BP.
He was released at 11:59 p.m..
According to McCoy, Williamson was yelling racial slurs at another person in the gas station prior to the attack.
A statement by the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville "on behalf of the family" of McCoy said that the crime should be investigated as a hate crime and that the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was delayed in arresting Williamson.
Williamson was not arrested for five days following the attack, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office did not release any information about the attack for days. A statement by JSO confirmed that the incident occured Monday.
The full statement released by the Northside Coalition reads: "We are relieved to know that this man was arrested and for the sake of public safety we are very concerned that he be kept behind bars! We are hopeful that State Attorney Mellissa Nelson will ensure that this racially motivated attack is prosecuted as a hate crime and not merely as a simple battery or assault. Ms. Rayme McCoy was singled out because of her race and the color of her skin by a man spouting racial epithets.
Unfortunately JSO procrastinated in the apprehension and arrest of Mr. Kevin Williamson. Our Sheriff should have moved more quickly.
We are hopeful that the State Attorney Nelson will move swiftly to prosecute this vicious attack; as a hate crime."
