The simple get-well wish on the small marquee at Rainbow Autowash in Brighton, along with dozens of cards, calls and flowers Williams has received, demonstrates the community's outrage over what police say was a blatantly racial attack at a Brighton bar April 20. He has declined comment.
Lawyers representing the men say the incident was nothing more than a bar fight.
They also have criticized Livingston County Prosecutor David Morse's public comments as prejudicial. Williams and several witnesses, including Paulina Muzzin, a former Livingston County prosecutor who was dancing with Williams, are expected to testify today at a preliminary examination in 53rd District Court in Brighton. The case has drawn significant attention not just because of its racial overtones, but because it occurred in Livingston County, which has fought hard in recent years to erase a reputation for bigotry. Census 2000 figures show that only 722, or 0.05 percent of Livingston's 156,951 residents, are African American. The FBI considered Miles one of the nation's top white supremacists.