Family touring home for sale ‘fear for their lives’ during racist attack, TN cops say

A family touring a home for sale in Tennessee was subjected to a racist attack when a man started hurling slurs and threatened to burn the house down, police said.

David Collins, 50, is now charged with civil rights intimidation and attempted aggravated burglary.

His attorney information was not available in Shelby County case records as of May 3.

On April 30, a Black and Asian family of three was looking at a home in Millington, which is part of the Memphis metropolitan area, according to an arrest affidavit from the Millington Police Department.

As they were viewing the house, a man started banging on the front door and trying to kick it in, the couple’s daughter told Millington police.

Collins, who is white, yelled racial slurs and “stated that he was going to kill all of them and that they would not make it out of the house alive,” police wrote in the affidavit.

The family said they were in “extreme fear for their lives” as he threatened to burn the house down and said he would get something from his home to “take care” of them, according to police.

The family members told police they were afraid to leave the home as Collins jumped over the fence and tried to kick in the back door as well, officials said.

Collins was booked in the Shelby County jail on May 2, records show.

This story was originally published May 3, 2024 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Family touring home for sale ‘fear for their lives’ during racist attack, TN cops say."