Man charged with ethnic intimidation for threatening Black man with replica gun, police

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — Police say a State College man is facing a felony charge for ethnic intimidation.

According to State College Police, the alleged victim, a Black man, went to the police department May 31 to report the incident.

Officers say the man told them he was on his way to work and stopped at the Uni Mart on S. Atherton Street.

He explained that once inside, he was approached by Bertrand Kleindorfer who said, “it’s pretty dangerous being black around here,” according to police.

Police say he explained that Kleindorfer was wearing a military vest with two holstered guns and was carrying what appeared to be an automatic gun.

Officers later identified the automatic gun as a replica MP 40.

According to the criminal complaint, Kleindorfer had lifted the gun in a shooting manner and was waving the gun back and forth while talking about killing people.

The complaint says Kleindorfer followed the alleged victim throughout the store and asked him if he wanted to see how the gun worked outside.

Police say the man told them he was scared for his life during the encounter and felt threatened because of his skin color.

Police say they interviewed a witness who said Kleindorfer was waving his gun around all day and pretending to shoot people.