ALPENA–A charge of ethnic intimidation, seldom seen in Alpena courts, brought an Ossineke man to court on Tuesday.

Joshua Cantor, 41, pleaded no contest to the ethx1nic intimidation charge that stemmed from a fight on New Year’s Eve at an Alpena Township bar.

The ethinic intimidation charge was added by Alpena County Assistant Prosecutor Russ Rhynard to the original assault and battery charges, which were filed after officers were called to an altercation at Bogart’s Tavern shortly after midnight on Jan. 1. According to Cantor’s attorney, words were exchanged between Cantor and Christopher James, of Alpena, including the use of a racial epithet by Cantor, before the men engaged in a fistfight.

According to Michigan statute, a person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if they maliciously and intentionally cause physical contact with another person or damage their property because of their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, or threaten to do so.

Ethnic intimidation is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, according to Michigan law.

Alpena County Prosecutor Ed Black has seen the ethnic intimidation charge issued no more than five times in Alpena County in his 11 years as county prosecutor.

In the absence of filed charges, the prosecutor’s office is unable to confirm whether ethnic intimidation is a rarity locally because it hasn’t happened or because it hasn’t been reported.

According to FBI figures, Alpena County and Presque Isle counties each reported two race-related hate crimes in 2017, the first since a hate crime recorded was in 2013 in the city of Alpena.

Cantor, who told The News he grew up in a minority-rich community downstate with friends and acquaintances who were minorities and was taught by his mother to not be racist, admitted to using the racial slur on impulse in a heated moment during the New Year’s Eve incident.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.