Hate Crimes Case Examples

Gregory A. Bush, 51, has been charged with federal hate crimes and firearm violations for the October 24, 2018, murder of an African-American man and woman and the attempted murder of a third person at a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. The indictment charges Bush with committing these crimes of violence because of the victims’ race and color. Bush is scheduled to appear in court on January 15, 2019. If found guilty, the maximum charges that Bush could face are life imprisonment or the death penalty."

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kroger-shooting-suspect-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearm-offenses

A Louisiana man pled guilty to shooting three young African-American men because of their race as the men tried to get out of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, the three African-American men walked through a neighborhood to reach a ferry landing used as an evacuation point. When they crossed a barricade of fallen trees the defendant and other neighbors built to block their streets, the defendant shot and wounded all three men. After the shooting, the defendant warned one of his neighbors that "anything coming up this street darker than a brown paper bag is getting shot."

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-orleans-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-shooting-three-african-american-men-attempting

A Texas man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for burning down the Victoria Islamic Center in January 2017. A week before the fire, the defendant broke into the mosque. The search of the defendant's home found stolen property from the mosque. A witness who was with the defendant on the night of the fire described how he used a lighter to set papers on fire inside the mosque and how excited he was to see the mosque in flames minutes after. The witness testified that the defendant said he burned down the mosque because he wanted to "send a message."

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-almost-25-years-hate-crime-burning-down-mosque-victoria-texas

An Iowa man was convicted of first-degree murder under Iowa law for his role in kidnapping, torture, and execution of a gender-fluid high school student in Burlington, Iowa in March 2016. Last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore authorized a federal hate-crimes prosecutor from the Civil Rights Division to be cross-designated as a Special Assistant County Attorney to assist with the prosecutions of both defendants in this case in the Iowa courts. The evidence established that the defendants pulled up next to the victim, who was dressed in women’s clothing and presenting as female and flirted with him. They convinced the victim to get in the car with them and took him to a location the defendants often went to have sex with young women. The physical evidence showed the defendants knocked the victim unconscious, gagged him, and wrapped a plastic bag around his head. The defendants then took the victim to an alley, shot him twice in the chest, and doused his body in bleach to destroy physical evidence.

Conviction: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-convicted-first-degree-murder-joint-kidnapping-torture-and-execution-gender-fluid-teen

A Florida man was sentenced to four years in prison, three years supervised release and $1,800 in restitution for obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threatening, via phone, to detonate a bomb at a mosque in Pembroke Pines, Florida. During the plea hearing, the defendant admitted the he called Jamaat Ul Muttaqeen Mosque of Pembroke Pines and left a voicemail message filled with hate and profanity denigrating Islam and threatening to blow up the mosque. Specifically, the defendant admitted to stating in the voicemail that he had a detonator, that he was “going to blow your…temple up," and that "you guys are all going to be up in flames after I’m done with you."

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-florida-man-sentenced-prison-hate-crime-threatening-blow-mosque

A Kansas man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the February 2017 killing of an Indian national and for the shooting of two other men. Earlier this year, the defendant plead guilty to hate crimes, firearm offenses, attempted murder, and murder charges related to the death and injuries of the three victims. According to the plea agreement, the defendant approached the victims, demanding to know how they entered the country, and called one victim a “terrorist.” The defendant later returned to the bar with a gun and shot two victims, killing one and injuring the other. At the defendant’s guilty-plea hearing, he admitted that he targeted and shot two of the Indian National victims because of their race, color, and national origin and that he shot the third victim in an attempt to flee the crime scene.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-sentenced-life-prison-without-parole-racially-motivated-shooting-olathe-bar

A federal grand jury in New Orleans, Louisiana indicted four Amite residents for six counts of human trafficking and hate crimes for abusing a family member with disabilities. In addition to alleging violations of forced labor, sex trafficking and fair housing statutes, the indictment charges one defendant with a hate crime for shooting the victim with a BB gun because of her disability. The hate crime charge carries of maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/amite-residents-charged-civil-rights-crimes-abusing-family-member-disabilities

A man from Ohio, who in August 2017 participated in a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a total of 30 hate crime charges. The indictment alleges that the defendant plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting the rally, resulting in the death of one woman and injury to dozens of other victims. The defendant attended the rally where, according to the indictment, he chanted and expressed white supremacist and anti-Semitic views.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-related-august-2017-rally-charlottesville

Four Texas men were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years for assaulting victims because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. In the winter of 2017, the defendants used a dating app for gay men to arrange a meeting at the victim’s home. Upon arriving at the home, the defendants physically and verbally assaulted victims, restraining them with tape and yelling slurs about the victim’s sexual orientation. The defendants entered carrying a firearm and stole the victim’s property, including his motor vehicle.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-10-years-prison-hate-crime-assault-based-victim-s-sexual-orientation

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-texas-men-sentenced-20-and-15-years-prison-hate-crime-assault-based-victim-s-sexual

Three men from Kansas were convicted on charges of conspiring to bomb an apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas, where Muslim Somali immigrants lived and worshipped. The defendants planned to carry out the bombing on November 9, 2016. The FBI conducted an eight-month-long investigation, during which they uncovered recordings of the defendants discussing their plan to attack the apartment complex. One FBI agent went undercover to pose as a black-market arms dealer and met with one of the defendants, who attempted to purchase a bomb from the agent.

Conviction: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-southwest-kansas-men-convicted-plotting-bomb-somali-immigrants-garden-city

A man from Bakersfield, California, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for hate crimes after verbally assaulting a Latino man. On December 19, 2012, the defendant drove to the home of the victim, who was standing in his yard with his wife and son. The defendant got out of the car, holding a sawed-off shotgun, and yelled racial slurs while firing a round at the victim. The defendant threatened the victim and his family, demanding that they “move out of Oildale.” Following these crimes, the victim and his family no longer felt safe in their home and moved.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bakersfield-man-sentenced-15-years-prison-hate-crime

Three men from Los Angeles, California, pled guilty to federal civil rights and racketeering charges for participating in a firebombing of African-American residences in a public housing development on May 11, 2014. The defendants, who were members of a Hispanic street gang, threw Molotov cocktails into apartments occupied by African-American families. The defendants admitted that they targeted the apartments because of the occupants’ race and color with the intent to force the victims to move away.

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-gang-members-agree-plead-guilty-federal-hate-crime-charges-related-firebombing-african

A dual citizen of the United States and Israel was indicted in three jurisdictions for hate crimes and other offenses committed in 2016 and early 2017. The defendant received indictments from Florida, the District of Columbia, and Georgia. In the District of Columbia, the defendant was charged with hate crimes for threatening the Israeli Embassy and the Anti-Defamation League. The indictment from Florida charged the defendant with hate crimes for making threatening calls to Jewish community centers. In Georgia, the defendant was indicted on charges of cyberstalking and conveying false information to the police.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdga/pr/usisraeli-man-indicted-hate-crime-and-threats-jewish-community-centers-israeli-embassy