BRAINERD, MINN. - A Brainerd restaurant will hold a benefit Tuesday for a man badly beaten at a Brainerd bar in what he believes was a racist attack.
Willie Navy, 53, who is black, said he was at a bar near closing time early Feb. 6 when a man called him the N-word and another knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head.
Police arrested two men from Pequot Lakes, Minn., ages 29 and 27, who are being held in the Crow Wing County jail. They are investigating the attack, including whether it might have been racially motivated.
Navy says his eye will need multiple surgeries and may lose function. He said that the attack shows that race relations, in some ways, haven't changed since the 1950s.
A Brainerd restaurant, Jimmy's Pizza, will donate a portion of Tuesday's food sales to Navy's medical bills, according to the Brainerd Dispatch. Brad Klein, who manages the pizzeria, said Navy is a neighbor and frequent customer.
Also on Tuesday, Navy's supporters will gather at the Crow Wing County Judicial Center to show their support for him. They will rally outside and then sit in on a court hearing for the two men accused in the assault.
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