At 72, he lives in arid Henderson, Nev., far from Metro Detroit and the fatal beating he committed here 30 years ago this week.
Ebens, an autoworker, saw Vincent Chin as a symbol of Japan's rise and Detroit's decline in the car industry and swung a baseball bat at the Chinese-American's skull on a Highland Park street while his stepson, Michael Nitz, held Chin down.
Four days after the attack on June 19, 1982, Chin, 27, of Oak Park died of his injuries.
The attack sparked a civil rights movement that galvanized Asian-Americans across the country.
Ebens, reached by phone at his home this week, says he regrets the attack.
"It was an unfortunate incident and should never have happened," he said. "I'm sorry it happened."
Asked how he's doing now, he responds casually. "I'm hanging in there," he said. "But I'm getting tired. I'm an old man."
30 years later, Vincent Chin's family awaits justice in fatal beating | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
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