The former owner of a Schenectady ice cream shop is facing hate crime charges for filing a false, race-based police report from New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

It all began last June, when there were protests outside Bumpy's Polar Freeze after racist text messages attributed to then-owner David Elmendorf surfaced on social media. Elmendorf allegedly brandished several weapons and made death threats to protesters.

The AG's lawsuit says he called police to falsely claim that the protesters were the ones brandishing weapons, and used their race as reasoning for the call.

Elmendorf is the first person to be charged with filing a false, race-based police report by the AG. His attorney has denied the allegations, and says 75% of Elmendorf's staff over the last five years were minorities.