BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 51-year-old Michael J. Cremen of Mountain Home, Arkansas, formerly of Franklinville, pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court to one count of second-degree menacing as a hate crime and one count of second-degree bail jumping.
The district attorney's office said in August 2020 Cremen used racial slurs while threatening protesters with a knife, and pushed one protester, during a demonstration on Hertel Avenue near Parkside Avenue in Buffalo.
Cremen was released on his own recognizance and according to the district attorney's office, he repeatedly failed to appear in court. A bench warrant was issued after he knowingly failed to appear in court in February 2022 and then failed to appear for the rescheduled court appearance in March 2022.
He was taken into custody in December 2022 in Arkansas by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office on an outstanding bench warrant and an indictment warrant for bail jumping. He was extradited to Western New York by the U.S. Marshals Service and held without bail.
Cremen is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2024, he faces a maximum of four years in prison. He was released on his own recognizance on Thursday.
