Incidents of Apparent Hate Crimes and Hate Group Activities
For the Record
ARIZONA
Phoenix 鈥 July 5, 2011
Gary Thomas Kelley, 51, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and 7 1/2 years for aggravated assault for the May 2010 shooting death of his Latino neighbor Juan Varela. Police said before shooting Varela, Kelley repeatedly used a racial slur and told Varela to 鈥済o back to Mexico鈥 or he would die.
ARKANSAS
Bryant 鈥 Sept. 20, 2011
A racist note allegedly signed by the KKK was left in the mailbox of a family that has an adopted black son.
Harrison 鈥 Sept. 27, 2011
Sean Popejoy, 20, was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in a 2010 racially motivated attack where Popejoy was a passenger in a truck that rammed a car with five Latino men inside, forcing it to overturn and burn, injuring all the men. Popejoy was convicted under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
Salado 鈥 July 18, 2011
Tony Branscum, 25, and James Bradley 鈥淏rad鈥 Branscum, 23, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges of violating housing rights in connection with an August 2010 cross burning at a black man鈥檚 residence.
CALIFORNIA
Carlsbad 鈥 Sept. 28, 2011
Arturo Santiago, 22, was arrested for investigation of a hate crime and assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly used racial slurs and hit a fellow bus passenger on the head with a bottle on April 4.
Davis 鈥 Sept. 17, 2011
Peter Lloyd Zuniga, 25, was charged with felony assault and committing a hate crime after he allegedly beat and kicked a female convenience store clerk because of her Russian heritage.
Lemon Grove 鈥 July 15, 2011
A Latino man was allegedly beaten by a group of white men who yelled a racial epithet and the words 鈥渨hite power鈥 during a road rage incident.
Long Beach 鈥 Aug. 25, 2011
Jorge Jhovanoy Ibarrias, 21, pleaded no contest to one count of felony battery with serious bodily injury with a hate crime enhancement for punching a gay man in the face on July 24. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Los Angeles 鈥 Sept. 1, 2011
An immigrant rights activist allegedly received hundreds of threatening phone calls after a radio show known for its inflammatory anti-immigrant rhetoric aired his personal cell phone number.
Norwalk 鈥 Sept. 1, 2011
Two Latino men allegedly spray-painted racist graffiti on the outside of a black woman鈥檚 house then forced themselves into her house but fled after the woman fired a gun at them.
Orangevale 鈥 Sept. 11, 2011
Anti-Arab graffiti and a swastika were spray-painted on a dry cleaners owned by Palestinian immigrants. The building was then set afire.
Palm Springs 鈥 Sept. 8, 2011
David John Reed, a 51-year-old white man, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2004 racially motivated stabbing death of Ricky Mosley, a black man. Reed, who has tattoos reading 鈥渨hite pride鈥 and 鈥淧eckerwood,鈥 was sentenced to death.
Pasadena 鈥 Aug. 14, 2011
Racist graffiti targeting Latinos was scrawled on a planter outside a fast food restaurant.
Sacramento 鈥 Sept. 20, 2011
A black man allegedly yelled sexual epithets at two men who were holding hands and then struck one of the men in the head with a sharp object.
San Diego 鈥 Sept. 18, 2011
Halbert Sadler, a black man, was charged with suspicion of a hate crime after he allegedly yelled racial slurs at a white couple and tried to rob them.
San Fernando 鈥 Sept. 30, 2011
Francisco Vasquez, 34, and Anthony Gonzales, 19, were convicted of a hate crime and attempted murder for yelling a racial slur and opening fire on two black men in May 2010.
San Luis Obispo 鈥 Sept. 12, 2011
Jeremiah Hernandez, 32, Jason Kahn, 36, Sara Matheny, 24, and William Soto, 20, were ordered to stand trial on arson, conspiracy and hate crimes charges for allegedly burning a cross outside a black family鈥檚 residence in March. All four defendants are either white or Latino.
Ventura 鈥 Aug. 31, 2011
Daniel Dockery, 22, was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to making a felony criminal threat. Dockery allegedly told two teenage boys in the Ojai area in June that he was a skinhead before making racial slurs, slapping one and threatening to kill both of them.
Ventura 鈥 Sept. 28, 2011
Nicholas Klopp was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime allegation. In December, Klopp yelled sexual slurs and threw a drinking glass that slashed a gay man鈥檚 face during a birthday party at a restaurant.
COLORADO
Boulder 鈥 Sept. 30, 2011
Thomas Frank Ross, a 19-year-old student at the University of Colorado, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault and bias-motivated crime after allegedly making derogatory remarks about Asian food, then breaking the nose of a half-Asian student who objected.
Colorado Springs 鈥 July 2, 2011
A group of people that included two gay soldiers was allegedly beaten by a group of black men who yelled anti-gay epithets.
Denver 鈥 July 18, 2011
A man walking with a friend was allegedly chased and beaten by two men who yelled anti-gay slurs. Joseph Murphy, 18, and Zachary Kocman, 19, were each charged with one count of bias-motivated assault and one misdemeanor count of third-degree assault.
CONNECTICUT
Hartford 鈥 Sept. 16, 2011
Racist radio talk show host Hal Turner was acquitted of threatening and inciting violence in his online blog against three state officials.
DELAWARE
Newark 鈥 Sept. 5, 2011
A cross made of PVC pipe with racial slurs written on it was planted in a man鈥檚 yard. A 16-year-old boy was charged with harassment and a hate crime and a 15-year-old boy was charged with second-degree conspiracy, harassment and a hate crime.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington 鈥 Aug. 9, 2011
Christian Washington, 19, was charged with bias-related assault after he and several other men allegedly yelled anti-gay slurs at five lesbians outside a Metro station on July 30 and then beat them.
FLORIDA
Immokalee 鈥 Sept. 23, 2011
Two gay men allegedly were attacked by five men who yelled anti-gay slurs.
GEORGIA
Atlanta 鈥 July 14, 2011
Neal Ray Schmidt, 59, a former state leader for the Ku Klux Klan in Missouri, pleaded guilty to driving to Georgia with the intent of having sex with two 14-year-old girls he met online. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Columbus 鈥 Aug. 23, 2011
Michael Carothers, aka Michael Weaver, 31, a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly spraying Mace on a black man in December who was walking along the street.
IDAHO
Coeur d鈥橝lene 鈥 Aug. 27, 2011
A white man allegedly yelled racial slurs at a black man walking past his house. Joel T. Diekhoff was charged with felony malicious harassment.
ILLINOIS
Belleville 鈥 July 8, 2011
A white man allegedly used racial epithets to incite a fight with a 14-year-old youth. Kevin T. Malone, 51, was charged on July 18 with two counts of hate crime and the teen was charged with disorderly conduct.
Chicago 鈥 July 7, 2011
Mack Heard, 17, Kenneth Towner, 18, and a 14-year-old boy were each charged with one felony count of hate crime and one misdemeanor count of aggravated assault in a public place after they allegedly used slurs and threatened a man.
INDIANA
Michigan City 鈥 Aug. 11, 2011
Rocks and a large cinder block were thrown through the window of an Islamic center.
IOWA
Centralia 鈥 Sept. 3, 2011
A racial slur was painted on the garage of a house that was set afire.
Des Moines 鈥 July 25, 2011
A doll with its face, hands and feet painted black was hung from a black woman鈥檚 garage door. A racial slur, profanities and a threat for her to leave her job 鈥渙r else鈥 also were spray-painted on the garage. A racial slur was allegedly written on the woman鈥檚 work locker in May.
KANSAS
Wichita 鈥 Aug. 15, 2011
Three white teens allegedly yelled racial slurs at a black man, threw bottles at him and then attempted to run him over with their vehicle.
KENTUCKY
Cumberland 鈥 Sept. 22, 2011
Four people were arrested for allegedly using anti-gay slurs and beating a gay man in April. David Jason Jenkins, 37, and Anthony Ray Jenkins, 20, were charged with attempted murder and Mabel Ashley Jenkins and Alexis Leann Jenkins, both 18, were charged with complicity.
LOUISIANA
Monroe 鈥 Sept. 2, 2011
Brian Wallis, 21, and his brother James Lee Wallis Jr., 25, pleaded guilty in federal court to committing a hate crime by intentionally attempting to intimidate black students at a local high school by hanging a dead raccoon in a noose from a flagpole in front of the school.
MARYLAND
Towson 鈥 Sept. 13, 2011
Teonna Brown, 19, was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to first-degree assault and a hate crime for beating a transgender woman in a restaurant in April.
MASSACHUSETTS
Provincetown 鈥 Aug. 4, 2011
Dorjee Gyadatsang, 24, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery with the intent to intimidate resulting in injury, assault and battery with the intent to intimidate, three counts of assault and battery and a civil rights violation for allegedly attacking two men and yelling anti-gay slurs at them.
MICHIGAN
Detroit 鈥 July 26, 2011
Glenn E. Morgan Jr., 40, was charged with mailing threatening communications after he allegedly sent photos and letters that included racial slurs and threats to an interracial couple.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul 鈥 Aug. 11, 2011
George Thompson, 64, pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of an 83-year-old Somali man in May 2010 by assaulting him, yelling that the man was Muslim and should go back to Africa and threatening to kill him.
MISSISSIPPI
Jackson 鈥 Sept. 6, 2011
Deryl Dedmon, a 19-year-old white man, was charged with capital murder for allegedly beating and running over James Anderson, a 49-year-old black man, with his truck in June.
MISSOURI
Independence 鈥 Aug. 31, 2011
Teresa Witthar, 43, was indicted on seven counts of conspiring to violate a biracial man鈥檚 civil rights by threatening and intimidating him because of his race or color after she and two others allegedly wrote racial slurs in the man鈥檚 house and then set fire to the residence in 2006. Witthar was also charged with aiding and abetting in the use of force or threat of force; using fire to commit a felony; obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents.
MONTANA
Billings 鈥 Aug. 4, 2011
Jason Lee Paullin, 35, was ordered to serve a three-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to malicious intimidation or harassment related to civil or human rights. In March, Paullin threatened a black man with his dog, chased him down a street and yelled racial slurs.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord 鈥 Sept. 18, 2011
Racist messages were written on the residences of several African refugee families.
NEW JERSEY
Jersey City 鈥 Aug. 10, 2011
A group of teenagers allegedly yelled anti-Asian epithets at a Filipino man and attempted to follow him into his apartment building.
Newark 鈥 Sept. 22, 2011
Douglas Brown, 36, was charged with harassment, bias intimidation and criminal mischief charges for allegedly calling his former neighbors homophobic names, putting oil on their home, slashing their tires and destroying property in a series of incidents that reportedly began in May.
NEW MEXICO
Farmington 鈥 Aug. 18, 2011
Paul Beebe, 27, and Jesse Sanford, 25, pleaded to federal hate crimes for beating, branding and writing the words 鈥淜KK鈥 and 鈥渨hite power鈥 on a developmentally disabled Native American man in 2010. Beebe pleaded guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Act of 2009 and Sanford pleaded guilty to conspiring to violating the act.
NEW YORK
New York 鈥 July 6, 2011
Two women who encountered a Muslim woman on the street allegedly attacked her, ripped off her religious attire and called her a terrorist. The women were charged with assault.
New York 鈥 Aug. 31, 2011
Ahmed Ferhani, 26, and Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, pleaded not guilty to state terror and hate-crime charges, including criminal possession of a weapon as a terror crime, terror conspiracy and hate-crime conspiracy following their May arrest for allegedly plotting to blow up a synagogue.
New York 鈥 Sept. 27, 2011
Matthew Francis, 21, was sentenced to two years in jail for using an anti-gay slur and beating a man in a historic gay bar in October 2010.
Niagara Falls 鈥 July 14, 2011
Two women allegedly yelled ethnic slurs and assaulted a woman of Pakistani origin who was wearing a hijab. Antoinette S. Ivey, 32, was charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime.
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville 鈥 July 20, 2011
A 15-year-old was charged with assault and damage to property in connection with a Feb. 14 incident where he and three others allegedly taunted and assaulted a man they believed to be gay. Lamon Lewis Hopkins, 25, had already been charged with felony assault in the incident.
Hayesville 鈥 Sept. 9, 2011
The words 鈥9/11 go home鈥 were painted on a grocery store owned by a Sikh family and a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the building.
PENNSYLVANIA
Carlisle 鈥 Sept. 9, 2011
Arrest warrants for ethnic intimidation and disorderly conduct were issued for Brian Fahnestock, 46, after he allegedly threatened a Walmart greeter and made a racial comment.
Harrisburg 鈥 July 29, 2011
Kelvin Brian Ford, 25, was arrested following a chase by police, who discovered he was wanted in Maryland for allegedly making racial comments and cutting a man with a box cutter in July.
Norristown 鈥 July 25, 2011
Colin Andrew Ford, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of terroristic threats for spray-painting swastikas and ethnic slurs on a Jewish family鈥檚 house in February.
Robinson 鈥 Sept. 8, 2011
Kenneth Paul Stiffey Jr., 21, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in burning a cross in 2009 at the residence of a family hosting a black foster child. On Sept. 26, Michael Duane Bracken, 23, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in the incident.
Verona 鈥 July 12, 2011
A noose was left hanging from the rafters near a production line where a black employee works in a beverage company.
TENNESSEE
Clinton 鈥 Sept. 6, 2011
Ricky Lynn Hawkins, 34, a self-identified lieutenant in the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations, was indicted on a charge of aggravated assault and civil rights intimidation for allegedly beating a black man with a baseball bat and yelling racial slurs in October 2010. Hawkins was allegedly angry that the man was dating a white woman.
TEXAS
Houston 鈥 Aug. 13, 2011
Four white men, Michael Joe McLaughlin, 40, Brian Kerstsetter, 32, Joseph Staggs, 48, and Charles Allen Cannon, 25, allegedly attacked a black man at a bus stop.
Midland 鈥 Sept. 2, 2011
Steven Scott Cantrell, 25, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges for setting fire to a predominantly black church in December 2010 in an effort to kill a disabled black man he believed lived at the church. The arson was part of a series of racially motivated arsons Cantrell committed in an attempt to gains status with the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
UTAH
American Fork 鈥 Sept. 8, 2011
A gay man at work in a hair salon was allegedly beaten by two or three people who yelled anti-gay slurs.
Salt Lake City 鈥 Sept. 3, 2011
A gay man was allegedly beaten and punched by four men as he walked home from a club that was holding a gay-themed night.
WASHINGTON
Seattle 鈥 Sept. 24, 2011
A gay couple鈥檚 car tires were slashed and an anti-gay note was left in front of their home.
Spokane 鈥 Sept. 7, 2011
Kevin Harpham, 37, who has extensive ties to white supremacists, pleaded guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and a hate crime for planting a bomb that was intended to hurl poison-laced shrapnel into the multicultural crowd marching in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in January.
Spokane 鈥 Sept. 29, 2011
Anthony C. Brockie, 37, was charged with second-degree assault and malicious harassment after he allegedly threatened two convenience store clerks with a straight razor while yelling racial slurs.
Vancouver 鈥 Sept. 2, 2011
Former Aryan Nations member Zachary Beck, 32, was sentenced to 51 months in prison with three years of supervised release for a racially motivated assault at a sports bar in January 2010. He and two other men started a fight with a black man and yelled 鈥渨hite power鈥 and racial slurs.
WISCONSIN
Appleton 鈥 Sept. 8, 2011
Chadwick E. Sharp-Bestul, 19, was sentenced to three years in prison on two burglary counts with hate crime enhancements after he and another man broke into and damaged two gas stations because they were owned by 鈥淎rabians.鈥
Berlin 鈥 Aug. 11, 2011
Paul Captain, 49, was charged with a hate crime for allegedly sending threatening and racist E-mails to the Wisconsin State Fair spokeswoman.
West Allis 鈥 Sept. 3, 2011
The neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement held a rally.
