Tag Archives: hate crimes

The Des Moines Register reports: The Clive police chief said hate crime charges are being considered after a woman admitted she hit a 14-year-old girl with her car because the girl is Hispanic. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, is charged with attempted murder for allegedly running down a 14-year-old on Dec. 9 as the girl walked to Indian Hills Junior …

The Des Moines Register reports: An Ames man was sentenced Wednesday to about 16 years in prison after he set fire to a church LGBTQ flag in June. Adolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames, last month was found guilty of a hate crime — a class “D” felony — third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire. Police said he stole a …

Austin’s CBS News affiliate reports: Two men from Dallas pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes on Thursday for their connection to a scheme to target gay men for violent crimes. Daryl Henry, 24, and Pablo Deleon, 19, both used the dating app Grindr to lure gay men to a vacant apartment and other areas in and around Dallas for robbery, …

The New York Daily News reports: Three teenage boys pleaded guilty Thursday in connection to a highly publicized attack on a lesbian couple inside a London bus six months ago, according to the city’s Metropolitan Police, which have now released surveillance video of the horrific assault. One of the victims, Melania Geymonat, wrote in a viral Facebook post at the …

The Ames Tribune reports: The Ames man accused of tearing down a pride banner from Ames United Church of Christ and setting it on fire was found guilty by a jury Wednesday morning. Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty of a hate crime, third-degree harassment, reckless use of fire and habitual offender, Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said. The habitual …

Via press release from the Justice Department: William Patrick Syring, 61, of Arlington, Virginia, was today sentenced to 60 months in prison for threatening employees of the Arab American Institute (AAI) because of their race and national origin, threatening AAI employees because of their efforts to encourage Arab Americans to participate in political and civic life in the United States, …

The Independent reports: Four teenage boys have been charged with an aggravated hate crime over a homophobic attack against two women on a London night bus, the Metropolitan Police has said. Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend Chris were hospitalised with facial injuries and left covered with blood after the assault on 30 May. The couple had been travelling home …

NBC News St. Louis reports: A man has been charged with a hate crime and threatening to kill LGBTQ residents in Soulard. On May 24, police received several 911 calls about property damage in the 1300 block of Sidney Street. While investigating what happened, police obtained surveillance video that showed a man committing the crimes. That man was later identified …

Newsweek reports: A woman has spoken out about a terrifying ordeal in which she and her girlfriend were attacked by a gang of men on a London bus after they refused to kiss for their entertainment. Uruguay national Melania Geymonat, 28, posted a photo showing the aftermath of the assault in which she and her American girlfriend Chris are covered …

CBS News Dallas reports: A federal grand jury charged a pair of Dallas men with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping and carjacking. Daniel Jenkins, 20, and Daryl Henry, 22, were also charged with hate crimes and kidnapping. Jenkins was also charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during crimes of violence. “Criminals are using apps like Grindr to single …

Portland’s CBS News affiliate reports: The man who chased a black teenager with his car and intentionally ran him over outside a 7-Eleven was sentenced to life in prison. The August 2016 incident killed 19-year-old Larnell Bruce. Russell Courtier received his sentence on Tuesday morning. The State of Oregon previously presented evidence showing that Courtier is a white supremacist. In …

The Associated Press reports: The white man suspected in the burnings of three African American churches in Louisiana will remain in jail, denied bond Monday by a judge, as state prosecutors added new charges declaring the arsons a hate crime. Twenty-one-year-old Holden Matthews, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, entered his not guilty plea via video conference from the St. …

Lafayette, Louisiana’s ABC News affiliate reports: KATC has confirmed with multiple law enforcement sources that one person is in custody in the recent church fires in St. Landry Parish. Sources confirm the suspect in the church arsons is Holden Matthews, 21. He is the son of a St. Landry Parish Deputy. He was booked at around 5:30 this evening into …

CBS News reports: As Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha calmly, clinically, described reviewing the autopsy reports for his murdered daughters and son-in-law, members of the House Judiciary Committee clasped their hands over the mouths, stifling tears. The Feb. 10, 2015 murders of 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, her 23-year-old husband Deah Shaddy Barakat, and 19-year-old sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, shocked the Chapel Hill, …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: After years and years of trying and failing, Utah finally has a working hate crimes law. In a public ceremony at the Utah State Capitol on Tuesday, Governor Gary Herbert signed Senate Bill 103 into law. “I think with the passage of Senate Bill 103, we are sending a message that …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Florida man who was caught on video asking a Utah man if he is gay and then punching him failed to show up for a court date on Friday, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Carlo Alazo, 22, faces three misdemeanors — one count of threatening to use a weapon in a …

NBC News Chicago reports: The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice will review the case involving “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, President Donald Trump tweeted early Thursday. Representatives for the FBI and DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday morning. The surprise decision to dismiss all charges, which was celebrated by Smollett and his …

CBS News reports: James Fields, Jr. has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges for his car attack on a crowd of people on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville. The attack killed Heather Heyer Charlottesville that killed Heather Heyer and injured many other people. As a result of the plea, the death penalty was taken off the table. The …

Deadline reports: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson dismissed Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s latest insistence on his innocence and decried the prosecutors’ dismissal of criminal charges against the Empire actor as, in Emanuel’s words, “a whitewash.” Emanuel lambasted Smollett as selfishly exploiting hate crime laws for his own personal gain. “He took those laws and turned them …

“I want you to know that not for a moment was it in vain. I’ve been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I was accused of. This has been an incredibly difficult time. Honestly, one of the worst of my …