Anti-Semitic former mayoral candidate Christopher Wood charged with hate crime
A former mayoral candidate known for making anti-Semitic speeches on the 400 Block in Wausau is now facing hate crime charges.
Christopher Carl Wood, 29 of Wausau, is being charged with disorderly conduct with a hate crime modifier, according to court records. The charges, which were filed Friday in Marathon County Court, stem from an incident that occurred May 12 at a Kwik Trip gas station.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident began when Wood allegedly said to a white woman that she should ditch the black man she was with and find a white man because there weren’t enough white people around.
That ultimately led to an altercation between Wood, the woman and the two men she was with. According to the criminal complaint, Wood repeatedly used the N word during the altercation. Wood also at one point offered to hug one of the men he was arguing with when that man told Wood to hit him.
According to the criminal complaint, Wood even used the N word when speaking with the officer who wrote him the citation and summons, saying to “keep fighting [N words], because they’re taking over our country.” He later said, according to the officer’s report, they were destroying the country.
Police interviewed a witness, watched surveillance footage of the incident from the Kwik Trip and watched two witness cell phone videos from the altercation as part of the investigation.
Wood first gained notoriety for making anti-semitic speeches on the 400 Block during Concerts on the Square. Generally he would name people in government, explain how they had dual citizenship with Israel, and then call them “Jew.” At one point downtown business owners had talked about organizing the purchase of air horns to drown out his speeches.
The Wausonian covered the story for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones was that he said he intended to run for mayor. Wood did just that and managed to garner the 200 signatures needed to get onto the ballot. He received 223 votes in the primary, or just over 5% of the vote, losing to incumbent Mayor Katie Rosenberg and eventual mayoral race winner, challenger Doug Diny.
Wood in an interview with The Wausonian prior to the primary said he was done with the anti-semitic rants but reaffirmed his anti-Semitic beliefs, saying that Jews were the sons of Satan.
It’s not the first time that someone in Wausau has been accused of a hate crime, but it’s rare. Former Police Chief Ben Bliven in 2020 posted publicly that police were recommending hate crime modifiers for an incident that, coincidentally, resulted from an altercation at a gas station.
The Wausonian verified that it is the same Christopher Wood by matching the address included in the court record with the address he used on his candidate forms. The age of the suspect also matches the age Wood gave to The Wausonian during the candidate profiles.
Wood is due in court on Aug. 14 to make an initial appearance. The disorderly conduct is a class B misdemeanor subject to a maximum penalty of $1,000 in fines and 90 days in jail; but the hate crime modifier in this case increases the potential maximum penalty by up to one year and a maximum of $10,000 in fines. First-time offenders typically don’t receive maximum sentences, however.
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