White 74-Year-Old North Dakota Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Choking 11-Year-Old Black Girl Who Was Playing In His Driveway

A white man who assaulted two Black girls in his neighborhood in North Dakota has been sentenced to spend 2 years in jail for the crime committed.

According to Inforum, Larry Wayne Baldner, who already pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, a Class C felony; and simple assault, a misdemeanor, was given a prison term of two years. He made the guilty plea after he assaulted two Black girls after also using a racial slur at them.

On Monday, April 3, Cass County Judge Susan Bailey handed down the sentence. A felony preventing arrest charge was previously dismissed.

On Sept. 21, 2021, Baldner had a confrontation with the two young Black girls in a driveway that he shares with his neighbors at the 2700 block of 33rd ½ Avenue South, in Fargo. He attacked two of five children who were occupying the driveway when they were playing basketball. He directed the kids to get off the driveway before assaulting them.

Baldner, who is a 74-year-old white man, slapped an 11-year-old Black girl as he also used an anti-Black slur in the confrontation. The girl and her sister confronted Baldner, and he grabbed the 11-year-old by the neck and hair, according to the complaint filed. He physically lifted her off the ground and choked her. Her sister was able to retaliate and hit him in the face to help free her sister. The 11-year-old had her hair extension ripped from her head and Baldner also hit her sister in the face as well.

The prosecutor, Joshua Traiser, stated that “Baldner unnecessarily belittled the children by using racial epithets at the time of his attack. A significant term of incarceration is necessary to hold Baldner accountable and to send a message that this court and this community takes racialized violence seriously.”

Baldner’s defense attorney, Erica Skogen Hovey, also added, “Mr. Baldner could have reasonably believed that he was legally justified to use force to defend himself and his property against the danger of imminent unlawful bodily injury or to prevent or terminate an unlawful entry or trespass in or upon his premises.”