Iowa

An Iowa woman was sentenced on two hate crimes charges for attempting to kill two children because of their race and national origin. The defendant was sentenced to two 25-year terms in federal prison running concurrently, with the sentences to overlap with the sentence imposed in her state court case.

On December 9, 2019, the defendant was driving her car on Creston Avenue in Des Moines, where the first child-victim was walking along the sidewalk with a family member who was also a child. Upon seeing the children and believing them to be of Middle Eastern or African descent, the defendant drove her vehicle over the curb towards the children, striking one of them, and then fleeing the scene.

About 30 minutes later, she was driving her Jeep near Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive, Iowa. The defendant saw a child that she believed was Mexican walking on the sidewalk. The defendant drove her vehicle over the curb and hit the child-victim, causing serious injury, including a concussion, bruises, and cuts. The defendant again fled the scene, but was caught later that day.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iowa-woman-sentenced-304-months-prison-hate-crimes-involving-attempting-kill-two-children

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

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• August 20, 2021 | Iowa Woman Sentenced to 304 Months in Prison for Hate Crimes Involving Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin
• April 22, 2021 | Iowa Woman Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin
• October 23, 2019 | United States Attorney’s Office, Inter-Religious Council of Linn County, and Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission Host Forum on Protecting Places of Worship
• October 6, 2018 | Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder For Joint Kidnapping, Torture, and Execution of Gender-Fluid Teen Kedarie Johnson
• July 23, 2019 | Iowa Man Charged With Making Threats To Manhattan-Based Jewish Organization