NAACP calls for attempted murder charge for white golfer accused of attacking black player
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White Memphis golfer is charged with ‘striking a black player in the face, causing serious brain injury,’ as NAACP calls for attempted murder investigation and victim’s family criticizes ‘low’ $5,000 bail
- A white Memphis golfer was charged with assaulting a black player with a club
- Memphis police say 22-year-old Wesley Caldwell hit Mark Coleman in the head
- The NAACP says Coleman, who is black, is still on a ventilator due to his injuries.
- Coleman’s family has criticized Caldwell’s bail, which was set at just $5,000.
- NAACP requested attempted murder charges ahead of Caldwell’s arraignment
- Now the organization is seeking an investigation to file more charges.
- There is currently no indication that the attack was racially motivated.
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A white Memphis golfer has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly hitting a black player in the head with a club, requiring emergency surgery to repair “significant brain damage,” according to authorities.
Memphis police say Wesley Caldwell, 22, of Nesbit, Mississippi, struck Marc Coleman over the head with his stick on December 3. The incident at the Links at Whitehaven course allegedly began when Caldwell became angry because Coleman hit a ball into his hole.
A witness, who was playing with Coleman, said Caldwell picked up Coleman’s ball, threw it across the field, and then used a golf club to hit Coleman on the left side of the face. Coleman fell to the ground and was later airlifted to the hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on his brain, according to WREG.com.
Coleman, who is black, remains hospitalized on a ventilator, Vann Turner, president of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, he told Fox 13 Memphis. There is currently no indication that the attack was racially motivated.
Memphis police say Wesley Caldwell, 22, of Nesbit, Mississippi, struck Marc Coleman over the head with his stick on December 3. The incident at the Links at Whitehaven course allegedly began when Caldwell became angry because Coleman hit a ball into his hole.
On Monday, Caldwell was charged with aggravated assault and released on $5,000 bail, a sum the NCAA found unacceptably low, given the defendant’s prior arrest record.
“Well, there’s been an aggravated assault,” Turner said. There’s been a threat against a witness in your past, there’s been a couple of reckless driving charges. [and a] DUI, so he’s young, but he’s had instances where he’s acted violently in the past,” Turner said.
Coleman’s family also opposed the $5,000 bail, arguing that it was too low, given the charges.
“For the bail hearing and bail to be so low, it’s highly unacceptable,” the victim’s brother, Stephon, told WREG.
“Why is it a $5,000 bond for the damage he has done to my stepson?” added Willie Walker, the victim’s stepfather.
The incident took place at the Links at Whitehaven, a public field in the Memphis area.
Coleman is described as a community leader, and the NAACP is now pushing to have the assault charge upgraded to “attempted murder.”
“The Memphis NAACP demands justice for one of its dedicated members and supporters, Mr. Marc Coleman, who is still in the hospital today with brain injuries after being brutally attacked,” a statement Tuesday read, before Caldwell’s arraignment. “We join the request that the attacker’s charges be updated based on the facts and circumstances of this case.”
Caldwell is due back in court on January 17.
The NAACP argues that Coleman was trying to defuse a tense situation when he was attacked.
“Mark wasn’t trading blow for blow with this guy,” Turner told Fox 13 Memphis. “He was trying to defuse the situation and he walked away and was attacked as he was and now he’s fighting for his life.”
Coleman is described as a community leader, and the NAACP is now pushing to have the assault charge upgraded to “attempted murder.”