Tag Archives: hate crimes

CALIFORNIA: Social Media Posts Spur Hate Crime Charge For Man Accused In Murder Of Gay Student

The Los Angeles Times reports: A 21-year-old Newport Beach man charged with murder in the stabbing death of former high school classmate Blaze Bernstein will also face a hate crime sentencing enhancement, the Orange County district attorney announced Thursday. Orange County District Atty. Tony Rackauckas said prosecutors added the hate crime enhancement based on allegations that Samuel Woodward killed 19-year-old …

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Hate Crime Charge For Man Who Screamed Racist And Anti-Gay Slurs At Christian Youth Group [VIDEO]

The Idaho Inlander reports: A Hayden, Idaho, man has been arrested and charged with a hate crime stemming from an incident at a McDonald’s in Coeur d’Alene on July 12. Richard Sovenski, 52, was booked into Kootenai County jail Tuesday on one count of misdemeanor battery and one count of felony malicious harassment, Idaho’s hate crime statute, according to Coeur …

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Democrats Seek Federal Ban On “Gay Panic” Defense

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: The use of a panic defense to justify anti-LGBT violence in federal court will come to an end if new legislation introduced this week by a pair of Massachusetts Democrats becomes law. The bill, introduced by Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) in the U.S. House and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in the U.S. Senate, …

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Nazi Driver Pleads Not Guilty To Hate Crime Charges

The Associated Press reports: An Ohio man pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges Thursday in a deadly car attack on a crowd of protesters opposing a white nationalist rally in Virginia. James Alex Fields Jr. entered the plea during his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville after being charged last week with 30 federal crimes in …

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MIAMI BEACH: Gay Father Of Pride Parade Bashing Suspect Defends Son, Says Son “Loves LGBT” [VIDEO]

NBC News Miami reports: The gay father of one of the men accused of beating a gay couple after Miami Beach’s Pride Parade in April is defending his son, arguing he did not act out of hate toward the LGBT community. Juan Lopez, the father of Juan Carlos Lopez, said that he raised his son along with his partner of …

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29 Hate Crime Charges For Nazi Charlottesville Driver

The Associated Press reports: Federal hate crime charges were filed Wednesday against a man accused of plowing a car into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing a woman and injuring dozens more. The Department of Justice announced that an indictment returned Wednesday charges 21-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, with 30 …

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ILLINOIS: Four Hate Crime Charges For Man Accused Of Painting Swastikas On 200+ Gravestones [VIDEO]

The Belleville News-Democrat reports: Timothy V. McLean, 34, of Glen Carbon has been charged with four counts of hate crime, three counts of institutional vandalism, one count of violating the Cemetery Protection Act, and 14 counts of criminal damage to property. McLean was arrested within 24 hours of the discovery of hundreds of swastikas painted on graves in Sunset Hill, …

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NEW YORK CITY: Hate Crime Charge For Long Island Rail Passenger Caught On Video In Racist Rant [VIDEO]

The New York Daily News reports: The LIRR rider caught on video unleashing a profane and racist rant was charged with a hate crime Wednesday and could end up behind bars for the vile tongue-lashing, officials said Wednesday. Queens DA Richard Brown charged Edward Ruggerio, 58, with menacing as a hate crime for his verbal attack on a fellow passenger …

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MIAMI BEACH: Hate Crime Charges For Gay Bashers

The Miami Herald reports: The four young men accused of attacking a gay couple on South Beach face stiffer penalties after prosecutors charged them Thursday under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement law. The group was charged with aggravated battery committed with prejudice, which means each could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the attack that took place during …

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NYPD Seeks Man Wearing MAGA Hat/Shirt For Pushing Hispanic Man Onto Subway Tracks After Racist Slurs

ABC News reports: New York ABC station WABC reports the New York City Police Department is looking for a man who attacked a fellow subway rider on Friday. The suspect was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap, sold by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, and a red “Make America Great Again” T-shirt at the time of the …

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MIAMI BEACH: Assault Suspects Charged With Felony Battery, Released On Bail, Hate Crime Charges Pending

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: Four men have been released on bond after being arrested and accused of beating a gay couple. The four men — who police identified as 20-year-old Luis Alonso, 21-year-old Adonis Diaz, 21-year-old Juan C. Lopez and 21-year-old Pablo Reinaldo Romo — bonded out of jail on Wednesday. According to a Miami Beach Police spokesperson, all four …

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MIAMI BEACH: Hate Crime Suspects Surrender To Police

The Miami Herald reports: Four men turned themselves in to Miami Beach police on Tuesday afternoon in the case of a gay couple brutally attacked after the city’s gay pride parade. The men surrendered through an attorney and will likely face felony charges, the Miami Beach Police Department said in a statement. The attack occurred Sunday evening around 7:40 p.m. …

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MIAMI BEACH: Police Seek Four Men In Hate Crime Assault On Gay Couple After Pride Parade [VIDEO]

The Miami Herald reports: Two victims were attacked by four young men in Miami Beach after the city’s Gay Pride Parade Sunday in what police think may have been a hate crime. In video footage of the incident, four young men — one wearing a Florida International University T-shirt — are seen walking up to a bathroom area on Ocean …

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CALIFORNIA: Suspect In Murder Of Gay Man Linked To Neo-Nazi Group Tied To Four Other Murders [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports: Earlier this month, when the body of California college student Blaze Bernstein [inset] was pulled from the loose dirt of a public park in the Orange County foothills, questions swirled about a motive. He was stabbed 20 times. The 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania sophomore was gay and Jewish, and local law enforcement announced they were investigating …

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RUSSIA: Hate Crimes Double After “Gay Propaganda” Laws, Nearly 200 Murders In Last Five Years

Reuters reports: Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia have doubled in five years, researchers said on Tuesday, in the wake of a law banning “gay propaganda”. Murders accounted for almost 200 out of 250 crimes analyzed, the Center for Independent Social Research said, attributing the surge to Russia’s 2013 ban on the spreading of …

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Lambda Legal Blasts DOJ’s “Cynical Publicity Stunt” In Aiding Prosecution In Murder Of Iowa Trans Teen

Via press release from Lambda Legal: Of course it is important and right that the Department of Justice assist in bringing to justice the murderer of Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson, one of the far too many transgender people, and especially transgender people of color, targeted in the ongoing lethal epidemic of hate violence. But it is the height of cynicism for Attorney …

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DOJ To Aid Prosecution In Murder Of Iowa Trans Teen

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department has dispatched an experienced federal hate crimes lawyer to Iowa to help prosecute a man charged with murdering a transgender high school student last year, a highly unusual move that officials said was personally initiated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In taking the step, Mr. Sessions, a staunch conservative, is sending a …

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AUSTRALIA: Drag Queen Trio Rushes To Defense Of Man Being Gay-Bashed By Mob In Sydney’s LGBT District

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: A man who was decked by a coward punch while on a night out in Sydney, and said he feared for his life, was rescued by a trio of unlikely saviours. Ivan Flinn, 34, from Surry Hills, said that during the attack earlier this month he hoped someone would come to his rescue. Help did …

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NEW YORK: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Proposes Adding “Inciting To Riot” To Hate Crime Laws Because Nazis

The New York Daily News reports: In the wake of the deadly hate march in Charlottesville, Va., Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday he will introduce legislation designed to prevent a similar situation in New York. The bill being drafted would add to the state hate crimes law the new offenses of rioting and inciting to riot when the actions target protected …

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FLORIDA: 22-Year Old Man Murdered In Hate Crime Shooting After Defending His Gay Cousin [VIDEO]

West Palm Beach’s NBC affiliate reports: The words spoken before a deadly shooting in Lake Worth could reveal the suspected shooter’s motive. The arrest report for Nelson Hernandez Mena, 48, states witnesses heard Hernandez angrily utter anti-gay statements just before one man was killed and a second person was injured. The mother of the 22-year-old man who was shot and …

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