MOORHEAD, Minn. - Jurors in a small town on the northern Plains face a trial that involves allegations that a white man shot a black man just because of his race.
James Waltz, 67, is charged with attempted murder, assault and terroristic threats in the November 2004 shooting of Ricky Davis outside a bar in International Falls, a city of 8,300 people in far northern Minnesota.
The trial was moved to Red Lake Falls, a farm town of about 4,300 people in northwestern Minnesota, because of pretrial publicity and an incident in which potential jurors saw Waltz in handcuffs.
Opening statements were scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Police said Waltz had told a neighbor he hoped to kill a black person someday.
"This is something we certainly would never expect in our community," International Falls Mayor Shawn Mason said. "The vast majority of us are shocked and outraged that it happened."
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Ricky Davis, the victim, survived.
