Portland Man Screams Racial Slurs, Attacks Black, Asian, and Hispanic Victims in McDonald’s Rampage — Now Faces Bias Crime Charges
A 35-year-old Portland man is facing multiple bias crime charges after allegedly screaming racial slurs, smacking an Asian customer in the back of the head, shoving a Hispanic man into a wall, and harassing a Black employee — all in a single explosive outburst at a McDonald’s last month.
Ethan Russell Leers was charged with four counts of misdemeanor bias crimes and harassment and one count of disorderly conduct following the March 18 altercation. He has a lengthy criminal history that includes 11 misdemeanor and five felony convictions, according to court records.
The McDonald’s Attack
Court documents cited by KATU detail a shocking sequence of events that began outside the fast-food restaurant. A Hispanic man told police that Leers approached him and asked him to do 100 burpees — a bizarre request that quickly escalated into something far more sinister.
Leers allegedly began screaming at the victim, called him a “rapist,” and accused him of “taking jobs.” The victim, who had done nothing to provoke the encounter, was left confused and frightened.
Video footage from inside the McDonald’s showed Leers continuing his rampage moments later. He yelled racial slurs at employees and customers, then became physical.
A Black McDonald’s employee told police that Leers smacked an Asian customer in the back of the head and shoved a Hispanic man into a wall. When the worker tried to intervene, Leers allegedly screamed a racial slur directly at him.
The Arrest: More Slurs and Threats
Even after police arrived and arrested Leers, the alleged outburst did not stop. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Oregonian, Leers continued yelling racial slurs while in custody.
He also reportedly made threatening statements to an officer, saying he “better have guns at home” because Leers was “going to find him down and fight him one on one.”
Leers then made a comment about the officer’s race, telling him that he should understand Leers’s behavior “because he’s white-white” — an apparent attempt to claim solidarity based on shared ethnicity.
A Separate Bias Crime Case
The McDonald’s incident is not Leers’s first encounter with bias crime charges. He faces a separate case stemming from an altercation last summer.
In that incident, a homeowner told police she heard Leers yelling racial slurs at her neighbor, banging on the neighbor’s front door, and then throwing rocks at a window and breaking it.
Leers then allegedly ran inside her home, stole a purse and a mop, and broke into her car. He faces charges of bias crime, criminal mischief, theft, and unlawful entry into a motor vehicle in that case.
Leers has pleaded not guilty to both cases.
A Long Criminal History
Court records reveal that Leers is no stranger to the criminal justice system. He has accumulated 11 misdemeanor convictions and five felony convictions over the years, though the specific nature of those prior offenses was not detailed in the initial reports.
The length and seriousness of his criminal history raise questions about why he was free to commit these alleged bias crimes and whether the justice system has failed to address underlying issues that lead to repeated offending.
The Pattern: Bias-Motivated Violence
The McDonald’s attack is notable for its breadth. Leers allegedly targeted victims of three different racial and ethnic groups — Asian, Hispanic, and Black — in a single incident. That suggests a general animus toward anyone he perceived as non-white, rather than a specific grudge against one community.
Bias crime laws in Oregon, as in most states, enhance penalties for offenses motivated by a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The goal is to recognize that crimes motivated by bias harm not just the individual victim but entire communities.
In this case, the McDonald’s employees and customers who witnessed the attack — and the broader Portland communities who have now heard about it — are all secondary victims of Leers’s alleged hatred.
What Happens Next
Leers is scheduled to appear in court on both cases in the coming months. If convicted on all charges, he faces significant jail time — though Oregon’s sentencing guidelines and his prior record will factor into any eventual punishment.
The McDonald’s corporation has not publicly commented on the incident, though individual franchise owners may choose to increase security or provide support to the employees who witnessed the attack.
For the victims — the Asian customer who was smacked in the head, the Hispanic man shoved into a wall, the Black employee who tried to help, and the Hispanic man outside who was asked to do burpees before being screamed at — justice will depend on whether the legal system takes bias crimes seriously.
Leers’s history suggests he has not been deterred by previous convictions. Whether this case will be any different remains to be seen.
Follow and subscribe for push notifications on the latest crime and justice news.
Writer: Sam Michael