Suspect Trace Riff, who was arrested, has a history with the police, dating back years.
A Kansas mom is still in shock after a stranger who she said identified himself as a “white supremacist” kicked her 1-year-old son in the back on their way into the grocery store.
Lashantai Witaker said she was walking into a Dillons in Wichita with her 11-year-old daughter and her son, Jhavii, on Sunday when the unthinkable happened.
"My daughter was behind me holding my son’s hand and we barely into the store when my son was kicked in his back by a white man,” Witaker told InsideEdition.com. "He was screaming a lot of racial obscenities, calling us the N-word, and saying he was a white supremacist.”
A bystander saw what happened and was able to tackle the man, who was later identified by Wichita police as Trace Riff.
“My daughter was shaking, my son is screaming,” said Witaker, who is seven months pregnant, about the moment. “He is only 1, so he had no idea what was going on.”
Police confirmed Witaker’s account of what happened. Riff, 31, was charged with suspicion of ethnic intimidation, battery and resisting police, according to police.
Riff also has an extensive record, including charges for DUIs and domestic battery, according to court documents. His current counts are all misdemeanors and he was released on $3,500 bond just hours after the incident, authorities said.
“I have been here all my life, so I would never think I would have to be so cautious in the grocery [store]. It was shocking and overwhelming,” Witaker said of the incident. “I’ve heard of it a lot of racism in Wichita, but I haven’t experienced it personally until that day.”
Witaker said her son is doing fine and paramedics who checked him out after the attack said his winter jacket helped protect him from the impact.
“Luckily he is 1 and he doesn’t understand the severity of the incident,” she added.
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