Farmington Hills man charged after assaulting postal carrier over campaign mail

A 61-year-old Michigan man, Russel Valleau, was charged with felony ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor assault and battery after threatening a postal carrier over Kamala Harris campaign material. Valleau used racial slurs and threatened the carrier, who defended herself with pepper spray. Prosecutors are using the charges to fight hate crimes, which can include intimidation and physical force motivated by bias.