'They kept yelling they were going to lynch me and kill me and my whole family and this is a white town and get the f--- out of here,' Phillips was quoted as saying in the local media.

'Once they figured out they had met someone who was not afraid they didn't know what to do. They were like little hyenas trying to dart in and out to engage the lion, but they wouldn't engage me one on one,' said the black man who suffered injuries to his ribs and got stitches in his head.

Police said the three men have been charged only with assault, not hate crime.

But they said they are 'currently reviewing video evidence and conducting witness inquiries to determine the cause of the incident. Preliminary investigation indicates that there may have been a racial element involved in the incident'.

The black man, who was born in Canada, said the attack on him just another example of the racism he has faced since his childhood.