Man accused of assaulting Macy’s manager in viral video could receive probation and no felony criminal record

An 18-year-old Michigan man pleading guilty to an assault stemming from an incident captured in a viral video in June might receive probation and a clean criminal record.

Damire Palmer was charged with assault in June after being identified as the man beating a Macy’s employee while his brother was filming on his cellphone. Palmer has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that could potentially result in probation and no felony record, according to ABC 12 in Flint, Michigan.

Palmer will be officially sentenced on Sept. 1 and could still receive the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but it appears that prosecutors are willing to show leniency.

“Nobody’s looking to hang felonies on young men,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said about the case. “I never have, and I never will. This was a bad crime, though, and he has to face the consequences.”

Prosecutors say Palmer will be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Training Act, which could lead to probation on a lesser charge after completion of a programming order, and the victim reportedly endorsed that decision.

“If he did not approve of this, you would not be getting this possibility,” Palmer was told by Genesee District Judge Jennifer Manley. “You understand what kind of break that man gave you?”

“This is a big deal for your life. I really want you to understand that,” Manley added. “I agree that programming needs to be put in place, and you need to have strict guidelines before you are out in the community.”

Palmer, a black man, initially claimed that the Macy’s manager, a white man, had hurled a racial slur at him, prompting the attack. But he now says that’s not the case and that his brother had lied and told him the word was said when it wasn’t.

“The statement that my brother made was untrue, and I swung on him for no reason,” Palmer said.