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72 hours in America: 3 hate-filled crimes. 3 hate-filled suspects. — WTVR.com

Three incidents in 72 hours shared one thing: hate.

Consider the past week in America.

Wednesday, a white man with a history of violence shot and killed two African-Americans, seemingly at random, at a Kentucky Kroger store following a failed attempt to barge into a black church.

After mail bombs were being sent to people who’d been criticized by the President, a suspect was arrested Friday — a man who had railed against Democrats and minorities with hate-filled messages online.

And Saturday morning, a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people attending Jewish services.

via 72 hours in America: 3 hate-filled crimes. 3 hate-filled suspects. — WTVR.com

Squirrel Hill, PA

ron stotyn's northof49blog

It is nearly a year since I have felt I could write again about terrorist attacks. The Squirrel Hill Massacre is an event that I cannot ignore in this blog. For any who for some reason do not know about this terror attack on US soil, know this: An American terrorist stormed a Jewish synagogue and executed 11 worshiping Jews in the midst of a naming ceremony. Police arrested the perpetrator who shouted words to the effect that all Jews must die. His crime has been termed Hate Crime by authorities. That is appropriate designation but I believe there is much more than hate crime in this event. More of my opinion about that comes below.

Before I continue with my comments about the Squirrel Hill murders, let me put some of my cards face up on the table. I am a former journalist and retired Associate Professor of Broadcasting…

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14 Year Old Killed 15 Year Old Classmate For Being Openly Gay – Valentine Road

While waiting on the next trial, or some good news to report about civil cases that I can blog about, I’ve been watching more movies than usual.  The other night, I came upon a HBO documentary titled Valentine Road.  It was released in 2013.  It was deemed an Academy Award worthy documentary film by Marta Cunningham, a Black woman.  The HBO description of the movie does not give it justice, but it peeked my interest enough to want to watch it.

USA Today praised the film as: “Haunting, heartfelt and even handed.”  It recommended that “Valentine Road be required viewing in teaching tolerance on middle school and high school campuses.”

Indeed, it has.  GLSEN, and the Museum of Tolerance use the film as an educational tool for school administrations.

After watching Valentine Road, I think it should also be required viewing for everyone interested in how jurors use their personal feelings, biases, and hypocritical double standards, to hang or acquit defendants in spite of evidence.

In 2008 after reading an article by the Southern Poverty Law Center about the case, Marta Cunningham embedded herself in the blue collar community of Oxnard, California.  From 350 hours of footage, Cunningham packs profound interviews and information into an 89-minute documentary.  Read the rest of this entry

Mistrial Declared On Hate Crime Charges

Donald Williams Jr.

Donald Williams Jr.

Three students were charged in a high-profile 2013 hate crime case at San Jose State University. They were also charged with battery for putting a bike lock around the neck Donald Williams Jr. a Black freshman. All three were found guilty of misdemeanor battery. They can serve up to six months in jail.  One has escaped conviction on the hate crime charge, and the jury hung on deciding the fate of the two others. A fourth student has been charged as a juvenile in the case. There is no available information on that case.

The defendants are Colin Warren of Woodacre (20) , Logan Beaschler of Bakersfield (20), and Joseph “Brett” Bomgardner, of Clovis (21).  The charges came due to varying degrees of subjecting Donald Williams Jr., who was 17, to repeated bullying that prosecutors say rose to the level of a hate crime during the fall of 2013.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office says it will consider asking for a retrial on the hate crime charges. Read the rest of this entry

Dylann Roof Indicted On Federal Hate Crime Charges

In a 16-page federal grand jury indictment, Dylann Roof, the 21-year old who killed 9 people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, has been indicted on 33 counts of federal charged, including hate crimes, firearms violations, and obstructing the practice of religion.

Killed by Darynn Roof - We RememberU.S. Attorney General Lorette Lynch announced the charges yesterday. The federal charges are in addition to the state murder charges. The Justice Department has not decided whether it will seek the death penalty against Roof, nor whether its prosecution will come prior to the state’s case.

South Carolina does not have a state hate-crime law. AG Lynch stated that the federal charges were needed to adequately deal with a defendant that “decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race.” Read the rest of this entry

Racist Texans Spray Paint ‘Everything From KKK To N***er’ On $50,000 Truck

The same thing is happening on the internet. There is a group of White Supremacists that do not want people of different races to associate and support each other online.

The Fifth Column

Racist Texans Spray Paint ‘Everything From KKK To N***er’ On $50,000 Truck (IMAGES)

ADDICTING INFO

Josh Joseph went to visit his good friends Darren and Hayli Frank in Spring, Texas, just north of Houston, for the 4th of July weekend. He never expected that he was going to be offending anyone in the neighborhood by doing so. For the record, Josh is black, and his friends are white. They were celebrating the holiday out in their front yard, and one of their neighbors likely saw their black guest. When they woke up the next morning, the Franks’ $50,000 truck was covered in racist vulgarities that the vandals had spray-painted.

The Franks live in a pretty nice neighborhood. They never thought that they would be the victims of a hate crime, especially not in their area. But, as people are finding out, racism is everywhere, including places you’d least expect to find it. Even though the Franks lived in a decent area overall, Texas…

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Mass Hate Crime Murders in Charleston, SC

No matter what path you walk, there is a basic truth that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control are the 9 spiritual fruits, the evidence seen in how we live – indeed, why we live.   Last night in Charleston, South Carolina, people gathered in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church for prayer. Nine of them were murdered. ABC reports that at least one is in the hospital wounded.

May their spilled blood produce the fruits of righteous judgment and spring forth trees of love.

revpinckney

Rev. Pinckney

Reported early is that among the victims is Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, who was also a Democratic State Senator. Rev. Pinckney was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1996 at the age of 23. In 2000, at the age of 27, he was elected to the State Senate. He was one of the youngest persons and the youngest African-American in South Carolina to be elected to the State Legislature. His committee assignments included Senate Finance, Banking and Insurance, Transportation, Medical Affairs and Corrections and Penology. He and his wife Jennifer have two children.

Police say the suspect is a clean-shaven white man in his 20s, with a slender build. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and boots. Read the rest of this entry

Three Years Later, Two More Convicted In Hate Crime Case

Federal Hate CrimeIt happened on June 26, 2011. 18-year old Deryl Dedmon of Brandon, Mississippi decided to drive into a predominately Black area of Jackson, Mississippi for the distinct purpose of messing up Blacks. With him were John Rice, Dylan Butler, Jonathan Gaskamp, William Montgomery, Shelbie Brooke Richards and Sarah Adelia Graves.

Dedmon owned a 1998 Ford F-250 truck and those who couldn’t fit in his truck climbed into a Jeep Cherokee. They drove 16 miles to the western side of Jackson.

In the parking lot of the Metro Inn near his own truck was 49-year old James Craig Anderson. Dedmon and his group pulled into the parking lot, robbed James and repeatedly beat him. Dazed, James walked to the curb of the street, where Dedmon ran him over, killing him.

Dedmon first told the police that he pulled into the Metro Inn parking lot because he thought James was trying to steal a vehicle. What Dedmon didn’t know is that motel security cameras caught most of his and his friends’ action on video.

t1larg.james.anderson

James Anderson

On July 6, 2011, Dedmon was arrested by the Hinds County Sheriff and charged with capital murder. Because witnesses heard racial slurs being used during and after James was beaten, the Hinds County District Attorney, Robert Shuler Smith, took the matter of capital murder and hate crime before a grand jury. On September 20, 2011, the grand jury indicted Dedmon on charges of capital murder and hate crime.

At his preliminary hearing on September 30, 2011, Dedmon entered a plea of not guilty. However, on March 21, 2012, he changed his plea to guilty for murder and a hate crime. Read the rest of this entry

Donald Sterling’s Gal Pal V Stiviano Brutally Beaten Up In New York City, Her Lawyer Claims — Called The ‘N Word’ By Group Of Assailants

Utah Man Arrested For Hate Crime

Robert Keller

Robert Keller

70-year old Robert Keller of Utah was arrested because a an African-American socialized with Whites, and it was more than Keller could stand.

Keller wrote a letter to KUTV saying that he would slice the throat of the young man.   Keller explained;

“I said, ‘What is going to happen down the road, when the black kid starts chasing these girls?  What I seen set me off, when he was walking down the street with a white gal.”

Last year, Keller wrote a note leaving it at the clubhouse of the complex that said;

“If I catch that [n-word] around my daughter, I’ll kill the ass h— and then come find what stupid person brought him here in the first place.”  

The letter was submitted with the probable cause statement from the police officer. Read the rest of this entry

3 Dead After Suburban Kansas City Shooting.

An update: It is now being considered a hate crime.

Texas Man Charged With Federal Hate Crime For Knock-Out

Conrad Barrett

Conrad Alvin Barrett

The U.S. Attorney’s office reports that Conrad Alvin Barrett of Katy, TX, is charged with assaulting a 79-year-old African American man in a knockout game-style attack.  Barret, 27, attacked the victim because of his race, allegedly recording himself on his cell phone and showed the video to others.

ABC reports, “Barrett allegedly hit the victim with such force that he immediately fell to the ground. Barrett then laughed and said “knockout,” as he ran to his vehicle and fled, according to allegations. “

The 79-year-old victim reportedly suffered two jaw fractures and was hospitalized for several days as a result of the attack.

If convicted, Barrett faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Investigators say Barrett had been working up the “courage” to play the knockout game for about a week.  According to the complaint, Barrett comments in a video that “the plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?”

Click here to watch a video as this story developed.

Source

Five Years, But Couple Pleaded Guilty To Violating Civil Rights

On August 28, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice for the Western District of Missouri announced that an Independence, MO man and woman pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the civil rights of an African-American family by setting fire to their residence.

Missouri Couple

Logan J. Smith, and Victoria A. Cheek-Herrera

Logan J. Smith, 25, and Victoria A. Cheek-Herrera, 34, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one court of conspiring to threaten and intimidate a family from exercising their constitutional right to reside in their home because of their race or color, and one count of civil rights violation for committing a racially motivated arson.

Smith waived his right to a grand jury indictment and pleaded guilty to a two-count information.   Cheek-Herrera pleaded guilty to two of three counts charged in an indictment returned by the grand jury on May 23, 2013. Read the rest of this entry

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