Louisiana Margaritaville Casino Site of Apparent Racial Attack — Video

Posted on: August 15, 2023, 09:23h. 

Last updated on: August 16, 2023, 04:30h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The identities of two individuals accused of assaulting a Black man in a Louisiana casino floor were revealed this week. During the confrontation, the women assaulted the victim, and a white man twice uttered a racial slur after he sat down at a slot machine near them.

A couple at a casino
A couple at a casino, pictured above. The woman allegedly attacked a Black man. The white man uttered a racial slur. (Image: Facebook)

USA Crime recently reported that the incident occurred at the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City. That location couldn’t be confirmed immediately by Casino.org.

The same report identified the white couple as Ashley and William Dison of Louisiana. Their names were posted widely on social media.

This week, the victim, Devon Leslie Jr., also identified the assailant as Ashley Bieber Dison on Facebook.

A video of the incident was posted by Tizzy Ent. It has gone viral and had 597.4K views as of Tuesday afternoon. An earlier video, posted by the victim, had 248K views as of this week.

“The story was that the woman got upset that a black man was sitting near her,” a poster identified as Tizzy Ent said in a tweet. “Or, as she put it, maybe an Arab.”

Racial Slurs Caught on Tape

During the confrontation, the couple uttered several racial slurs a the man.

The male accomplice told the victim, “Stop being a little bitch, you f*****g N****r.”

The man later repeated this statement. At one point, Ashley Dison also called the victim an “Arabian.”

A casino employee allegedly asked the victim to stop recording. He refused.

This woman went off on me hit me in the face and kicked me in the back, because I sat to[o] close to her and her boyfriend so this is how I was treated,” Leslie said in the Facebook post.

Both suspects were arrested on August 3, he claimed. He alleges her charge was assault.

“I did absolutely nothing wrong, nor did I defend myself against them,” Leslie added. “Thanks to the Bossier City Police and the casino for standing up for me!”

The victim is apparently a veteran of the U.S. military.

Legal Scholar Disturbed

Southern University Professor of Law Angela Bell told Casino.org that the video “was deeply disturbing to me.” She noted the Black man at the casino lost his dignity in public after he could not sit near the whites. There were many similarities to the George Floyd murder, she added.

Bell, a legal scholar, took part in last year’s posthumous pardon ceremony of Homer A. Plessy by Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La. Plessy was convicted of violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act of 1890. The case went to the US Supreme Court, which set up the separate but equal legal doctrine in its ruling on Plessy vs. Ferguson.

She further stated that the casino incident was reminiscent of the attitudes during the separate but equal period.

When watching the video, Bell said the “rage” on the white woman’s face was also reminiscent of the anger of white women fighting against the civil rights movement.

Based on the initial video, she also questioned if the response by the apparent employee who was attempting to hold back the white woman was effective.

“She didn’t see the urgency,” Bell said. “She allowed it to go too far.”

Bell also questioned if the casino has released a statement on the incident. “Their silence speaks volumes.”

Casino.org contacted Penn Entertainment, the parent company of the reported casino, for comment. No immediate statement was provided.