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Examples of State Crimes 2020-2023

Three examples of state crimes since 2020 include Russia targeting civilians during the Ukraine invasion, China’s genocide against the Uyghur’s and the Taliban’s denial of women’s rights.

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Last Updated on September 20, 2023 by Karl Thompson

This post provides several examples of Contemporary State Crimes and links to sources of information students can use to explore State Crimes further.

Before reading this post, you might like to read these two posts:

What is State Crime ?
Sociological Perspectives on State Crime

Studying State Crime is an explicit requirement for students studying A-level Sociology, as part of the compulsory Crime and Deviance Module .

Below I have highlighted five countries who are responsible for some of the worst state crimes in recent years….

I’ve tried to select examples of mainly developed countries committing state crimes, to demonstrate that it’s not all impoverished, war torn countries or ‘rogue states’ who are state-criminal actors.

It is, however, important to realise that I have been selective (so there is some selection bias here and these examples will lack representativeness) but I think it has to be this way to make this topic manageable. I have included links below where you can search for further examples of State Crimes.

NB – this post is a work in progress!

Countries Committing State Crimes in 2020-2023

Three prominent examples of governments committing crimes against humanity since 2020 include:

Russia – the invasion of Ukraine
China – the cultural genocide against the Uyghers.
The Taliban’s increasing oppression of women.

Russia’s Crimes Against Humanity

Historically, there’s only one real contender for the the worst state criminal in all of all of human history – the USA.

The International Criminal Court is currently investigating Russia for potential crimes against humanity committed during its invasion of Ukraine . Russia is under investigation for the following crimes:

deliberate targeting of civilian areas and the systematic mass killing civilians.
Torture and rape of civilians in Ukraine and Ukrainian prisoners held in Russian territory.
Forced deportation of over two million Ukrainian adults and children to Russia since the start of the invasion.

China’s Genocide Against the Uyghurs

The Human Right’s Watch Report 2021 report summarises a nearly 10 year history of human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese State. The Uyghurs live in Xinjiang province in the far North East of China, a relatively remote and underdeveloped region of China.

map showing the Xinjiang region of China

In 2014 the Chinese government commenced a “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism” in the Xinjiang region has since involved pressuring Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims to abandon Islam and their culture.

Two examples of Chinese state crimes include:

Since 2014 over one million ethnic minorities have been forcibly detained and subject to ‘re-education’ sometimes involved torture.
The populations of the region are also subject to mass surveillance and there are reports of women having been forcibly sterilised.

These actions by the Chinese state are possibly characterised as a cultural genocide and are ongoing today.

The Chinese State has a history of violating human rights. For example the crushing of Hong Kong’s freedoms, ongoing repression in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, and the crackdown on independent voices throughout the country more generally.

The Taliban in Afghanistan

According to Human Rights Watch since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan they have:

forced women to wear headscalves in public
Banned girls from secondary education
Banned women from working and public office.
Imposed mass censorchip on the media, undermining freedom of speach
Murdered or disappeared numerous political opponents.

The United States and Israel as State Criminals

Despite the United States outing Russia as a perpetrator of State Crime in Ukraine, according to Noam Chomsky, the United States, along with Israel, are the two worst terrorist organisations/ rogue states of modern times, even if in the last couple of years their crimes against humanity may have been out of the spotlight!

The Crimes of the United States of America

Below is a useful summary video which takes a trip through some of the War Crimes committed by the United States of America since the end of World War Two.

The State of Israel

Israel has been committing crimes against Palestinians in the occupied territories for several decades now – there are presently almost 7 million Palestinian victims of Israeli apartheid policies which forbids Palestinians from having equal access to regions across Israel. This 2021 report from Human Rights watch explores this. A more accessible report might be this one from Amnesty international .

Some of the crimes the state of Israel commits against Palestinian civilians include:

Unlawful killing
Prevention of freedom of movement
Forced displacement
Discrimination

Syria and Turkey

War Crimes are still being committed by Syria and Turkey in Syria – including the arbitrary killing of civilians, forced detention, which can lead to the death penalty, looting of property and displacement of peoples – there are now 6 million refugees from the region.

Interestingly the report also labels neighbouring countries as committing crimes by blocking access to these refugees!

War Crimes in War Torn Countries (Special Note)

NB – you will find plenty of examples of many state crimes in war torn countries such as Yemen for example, but it seemed a little bit too easy to focus on those, I’m trying to be critical here!

Three organisations which monitor state crimes:

Amnesty International has a useful hub page here which will allow you to explore contemporary case studies of States involved in various crimes – such as disappearances, political violence, torture and states denying citizens freedom of expression.
Human Rights Watch – monitors all sorts of State crimes – they cover some of the same ground as Amnesty but also focus more extensively on issues such as women’s’ rights, and reproductive rights and lots more. Their reports page is well worth a browse!
Transparency International – monitors global political corruption – they’ve developed an index based on surveys which asks people questions such as ‘have you paid a bribe to access a public service in the last year’ – they rank countries according to how corrupt they are and do research into corruption in several countries. You can access the latest world corruption report here .
You might also be interested in this rare academic source – The State Crime Journal .

Sources and Signposting

This material is mainly relevant to the Crime and Deviance module.

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State Crime Research
A Critical Introduction to State-Corporate Crime

Up until the early nineteen nineties criminological research on the crimes of the powerful tended to be separated into two distinct sub-disciplinary genres: corporate crime and state crime (Kramer 1992: 214). For Ronald Kramer and Ray Michalowski this was a matter of concern. They believed that by dividing the research on the crimes of the powerful into these two separate criminological strands, scholars were obscuring the fact that states and corporations are functionally interdependent, consequently it is rare for the deviant actions of one to occur without some assistance (whether by commission or omission) from the other (Kramer et al 2002: 270; see also Aulette and Michalowski 1993: 173; Green and Ward 2004: 28; Whyte 2003: 579-80).

In order to remedy this problem, Kramer and Michalowski authored a series of papers in the early nineteen nineties which initiated a new criminological research agenda whose focus would be those illegal or socially injurious actions that resulted from one or more institutions of political governance [pursuing] a goal in direct cooperation with one or more institutions of economic production and distribution (Kramer and Michalowski 1991: 4; see also Kramer 1990: 1; Kramer et al 2002: 269). This criminological sub-genre was labeled state-corporate crime.

Over the next decade, scholars conducted a number of case studies on state-corporate crime. This has inspired important conceptual and theoretical innovations. First, a distinction has been drawn between state-facilitated corporate crime and state-initiated corporate crime. State-initiated corporate crime occurs when corporations, employed by the government, engage in organizational deviance at the direction of, or with the tacit approval of, the government (Kramer et al 2002: 271). State-facilitated corporate crime, on the other hand, occurs when government regulatory institutions fail to restrain deviant business activities, either because of direct collusion between business and government or because they adhere to shared goals whose attainment would be hampered by aggressive regulation (Kramer et al 2002: 271-72).

However, it has yet to be acknowledged in the literature, that state-corporate crime studies also captures state crimes which have been either initiated or facilitated by corporations. Corporate-initiated state crime occurs when corporations directly employ their economic power to coerce states into taking deviant actions. Corporate-facilitated state crime, on the other hand, occurs when corporations either provide the means for states criminality (e.g. weapons sales), or when they fail to alert the domestic/international community to the states criminality, because these deviant practices directly/indirectly benefit the corporation concerned.

On the theoretical front, one of the most important achievements thus far is Kramer et als (2002) integrated theoretical model of state-corporate crime. This model is based on the proposition that criminal or deviant behavior at the organizational level results from a coincidence of pressure for goal attainment, availability and perceived attractiveness of illegitimate means, and an absence of effective social control (Kramer et al 2002: 274). The authors argue that these catalysts for action, synthesise across the environmental, organisational and interactional levels to produce criminal events. Kramer et als model has been subjected to a number of criticisms.

For example, Mullins and Rothe (2007) argue that Kramer et als model must be modified to acknowledge and distinguish other social dimensions instrumental to the crimes of the powerful. They claim that the international sphere is a real and important layer of social reality, that can both facilitate and inhibit state criminality, a fact which must be registered (Mullins and Rothe 2007: 138). Additionally, Mullins and Rothe also assert that it is important to clearly differentiate constraints from social controls. A constraint, they note, differs from a control in that a constraint acts as an inhibitor or barrier that occurs at the onset of or during an illegal action (Mullins and Rothe 2007: 139).

Lasslett (2010) has also subjected Kramer et als model to critical scrutiny. While he acknowledges that this integrated theoretical model acts as a useful topography which helps orient criminologists to the particular social realities that are of special significance for those trying to make sense of state-corporate crime, nevertheless, he also argues that such topographies only help to identify specific forms and exchanges that are of a particularly criminogenic character. They do not help us to understand the substantive social forces that inform these immediately perceived realities. Lasslett, therefore, claims that if we are to capture and define these substantive forces we require a method and a body of theory that can discern the social relationships and processes which structure everyday social interaction; relations and processes that are not immediately obvious. In this respect, Lasslett claims that classical Marxism is a useful scientific vantage point from which to approach state-corporate crime.

While the subject of numerous case studies and theoretical debates, state-corporate crime as a criminological focus remains in its infancy. Nevertheless, given the interdependent nature of state and corporate power, elite deviance of any variety will more often than not touch upon this criminological focus, thus it constitutes an important avenue for future social research.

Bibliography

Aulette, J. R. and Michalowski, R. (1993) Fire in Hamlet: A Case Study of State-Corporate Crime, in Tunnell K. D. (ed.) Political Crime in Contemporary America: a Critical Approach, London: Garland Publishing Incorporated.

Green, P. and Ward, T. (2004) State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption, London: Pluto Press.

Kramer, R. C. (1990) From White-Collar to State-Corporate Crime, Conference Paper, North Central Sociological Association, Louisville, Kentucky, 22 March 1990.

Kramer, R. C. (1992) The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion, in Schlegel, K. and Weisburd, D. (eds.) White Collar Crime Reconsidered, Boston: North East University Press.

Kramer, R. C. and Michalowski, R. J. (1991) State-Corporate Crime, prepared for American Society of Criminology Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, 7-12 November 1990, revised: September 1991.

Kramer, R. C., Michalowski, R. J. and Kauzlarich, D. (2002) The Origins and Development of the Concept and Theory of State-Corporate Crime, Crime & Delinquency, 48(2), 263282.

Lasslett, K. (2010), Scientific Method and the Crimes of the Powerful, Critical Criminology, (iFirst).

Mullins, C. W. and Rothe, D. L. (2007) The Forgotten Ones: The Darfuri Genocide, Critical Criminology, 15, 135158.

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State Crime

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First Online: 27 November 2018
pp 5038–5043
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Dawn L. Rothe 5

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State crimes have been one of the foremost social problems of the past 100 years, with wide-reaching costs and levels of victimization. During the course of the twentieth century, the state crimes of Turkey, Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and Maoist China were especially large-scale, dramatic examples. More current examples include the continued possession of nuclear weapons by some states in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; the US wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan; genocides and crimes against humanity that include the Serbian attack on Bosnian and Croatia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, and Sudan’s actions against Darfur; and the Democratic Republic of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s wars and stealing of natural resources by states and corporations alike. Other charges of state crime occurring around the world as of 2011 include the political, economic, and militarized oppression involving Egypt, Israel, the United...

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Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, 6006 BAL, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

Dawn L. Rothe

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Gerben Bruinsma

VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

David Weisburd

Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

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Rothe, D.L. (2014). State Crime. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_113

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State Crimes

Last updated 7 Aug 2018

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State crimes are crimes committed by governments. They were defined by Penny Green and Tony Ward (2005) as "illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with, the complicity of state agencies”.

Of course, states generally create the laws of their countries and while governments may break their own laws, it is more likely the case that they are breaking international law; or their actions should be seen in terms of transgressive criminology (causing harm rather than breaking the law). A wide range of state crimes may be considered.

This can include corruption, e.g. kleptocratic regimes robbing their populations, or human rights abuses, including very extreme acts such as the Rwandan genocide or ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia.

State crimes include (but are not restricted to):

Discrimination
Funding terrorism
Funding organised crime
Assassination

Eugene McLaughlin (2001) divided these into four types of state crime:

crimes by the security and police forces
economic crimes
social and cultural crimes (like institutional racism) and
practical crimes (like corruption)

Spiral of Denial

Stan Cohen (1996) identified a spiral of denial that states use when accused of human rights abuses.

"IT DIDN'T HAPPEN"

The first reaction is often to deny that anything occurred at all. This lasts until international bodies produce evidence that it did occur.

"IT'S NOT HOW IT LOOKS"

Once such evidence is provided, the next stage is often to question a particular version of events, instead claiming that others carried out the atrocity or the evidence pointed to something rather different occurring.

"IT HAD TO BE THIS WAY"

The final stage of the spiral of denial is to admit that the abuse occurred but to justify it. To suggest that it was the fault of the victims, or that there was no other way.

There is some similarity to Matza's techniques of neutralisation as referred to in functionalist explanations of crime, deviance, social order and social control . This can also be applied to state crimes.

Evaluating the Sociology of State Crimes

While Marxists look at all manner of harmful activity as being state crime, some question what the parameters are. This is the same issue raised elsewhere in relation to transgressive approaches to crime. For all the problems of limiting considerations of crime to transgressions of specific laws, opening it up to all harm becomes very unwieldy. While everyone would agree that torture or genocide are state crimes, some might question whether the absence of health and safety and equality legislation could be considered as such; yet Marxists and feminists might describe such measures as states causing harm.

Some worry that discourses of human rights can be ethnocentric , seeking to apply western norms to all societies. While the argument is often used to oppose international intervention in countries (such as Iraq, for example) it would be difficult to justify the argument when presented with specific examples: it does not seem acceptable to argue that women should have fewer rights in Saudi Arabia than in the UK just because those happen to be the local norms and values. The whole point of a discourse of human rights is to challenge and change such values.

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State Crimes

While crime is committed by individuals and groups of people, nation states also engage in criminal activity. Clearly a nation as an entity cannot commit a crime but a government within that nation can, frequently without the knowledge and support of the people of that nation. While such governments are in power and engaging in criminal offences, there are only two ways to remove them and bring them to justice. The first would be an uprising by the people within that nation and the other would be action by international forces frequently via the United Nations – to give such action legality. International pressure usually starts with a diplomatic warning to stop what you are doing. If this fails the next stage up would be an embargo of trade etc. with the offending nation. If this fails, then the UN does have recourse to military action. When the UN is not involved, organisations such as NATO might take the decision to engage in military action.

A classic case would be Libya in 2011. It is now clear that the Gaddafi regime was engaged in criminal activities against the people of Libya for decades. The recently discovered mass grave (September 2011) of about 1500 men by a former prison used by the Gaddafi regime is one example of how opponents of the regime were dealt with. Over the decades Gaddafi was in power, thousands of deemed opponents disappeared and no one can account for their whereabouts. This may be resolved once DNA testing has been done on the numerous graves that have been found and the records of the secret state police have been trawled through. Rebellion against the regime started in Benghazi and quickly spread to such an extent that the government was forced out of Tripoli and a National Transitional Council (NTC) established. The then rebels were supported both politically and militarily by external agencies. The UN recognised the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya while navies and various air forces bombed selected strategic targets of the regime in support of the rebels but crucially with international support to give what they were doing legitimacy.

In recent years there have been high profile trials against men deemed to have committed crimes against their people and who, once their government has fallen, have been arrested and tried at the international court based in The Hague. One such man was Slobodan Milosevic. He went from being the most powerful man in the former Yugoslavia with all the trappings that went with that to being put on trial for crimes against the Muslim community in that region. While few doubted his guilt, there was a huge desire to see him go through a legal process that Milosevic denied to thousands of others. He died during his trial.

Others deemed to have offended their own people have been overthrown using international force but have been tried by their own people. The most recent high profile case was Sudden Hussein. After his downfall and subsequent arrest, he was tried by an Iraqi court, sentenced to death and hanged – a punishment not meted out by the International Court at The Hague.

Over the years former high profile government ministers in Rwanda had been tried and imprisoned for their part in the genocide that took place there.

While it is easy to point the finger of blame at certain nations – usually classed as second world or third world nations – nations deemed to be ‘first world’ nations are not so keen to be labelled as ones that commit state crimes. They are usually the ones to give military support to a nation in turmoil and thus come out as the ‘good guys’ after a regime is toppled. France and the UK were the primary providers of air support for the Libyan rebels in 2011 and are credited with doing extreme damage to the war machine of Gaddafi effectively crippling it and making the task of the rebels easier. Many suspect and believe that the rebels – frequently portrayed by the media as being highly enthusiastic for their cause but chaotically organised – were given support at ground level by Special Forces operatives. Few have mourned the defeat of the Gaddafi regime and the joy of the people of Libya at the start of a new era is obvious to all. When the UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the French President, Nicolas Sakozy, visited Libya in September 2011 they were enthusiastically greeted by the Libyans who saw them as being the main helpers in their liberation.

The use of torture to gain information is internationally banned by the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The convention also explicitly forbids the use of such ‘evidence’ in legal proceedings. In December 2005, in a case Liberty intervened in, the House of Lords confirmed that the use of evidence derived from torture was unlawful, regardless of who carried out the torture. It held that the ban on torture and other forms of ill-treatment is absolute and cannot be opted out of. The use of ‘evidence’ that might have been obtained in violation of that ban is therefore unlawful.

The defeat of the Gaddafi regime also exposed a dark secret that certain agencies within the UK would have liked to have remained secret. Torture of arrested suspects within the UK is illegal. But documents retrieved from the headquarters of the ransacked Libyan state security police clearly show that very recently suspected terrorists arrested by UK forces in Afghanistan, for example, were sent by British agencies to Libya to be questioned about their activities. Many believe that these suspects were tortured to gain information and that this information was passed onto British security agencies. The process is known as extraordinary rendition and has been outlawed by the UK government. The former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who held the position at the time this was apparently happening has told The House of Commons in a very public statement that he had no knowledge that this was going on. Effectively, Straw said that it was going on behind his back. There are two issues here. Do we need information to guard us against possible terrorist attacks? The answer is clearly ‘yes’. Is it acceptable to use any means possible to get such information that could protect many innocent people? This is the more difficult of the two questions. If someone believes that the answer is also ‘yes’ then that is an admission by that person that in this case torture – outlawed in the UK – is an acceptable way to gain said information. The UK was found guilty of using torture against IRA suspects in Northern Ireland during the troubles when ‘white light’ was used.

France – also celebrated in Libya as a nation that supported the rebels – was also complicit when a Greenpeace boat – the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ – was sunk by French agents from their foreign intelligence services (the DGSE) in New Zealand killing one of the men on board, a photographer called Fernando Pereira. Again, the French government denied all knowledge that anything like this was planned but the episode did lead the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu. This led to the next question – what else do these agencies of the government do without the knowledge of their governments? Which countries have such secret agencies that operate in such a cavalier manner outside of government control?

Is a nation that commits crimes against its people but is outside of the ‘first nation club’ more culpable that a nation in the ‘first nation club’ that also commits crimes? Is it simply a case of numbers? One dead crew member on the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ compared to nearly 1 million dead in the Rwanda genocide? Is upholding the law more important than acquiring information that could save many lives?

Courtesy of Lee Bryant, Director of Sixth Form, Anglo-European School, Ingatestone, Essex

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The Inside Story on 5 Organized Crime Cases and the People Who Brought Them to Justice

By Kirsten Slyter on 10/18/2021

image of a board with pictures and clues trying to solve organized crime

There’s no question that organized crime is a fascinating topic. Hit Hollywood depictions like Goodfellas , The Departed and The Sopranos have firmly established themselves as a part of American popular culture. While these depictions may paint individual members of organized crime rings in a sometimes-favorable light, organized crime remains a substantial problem that leads to a lot of suffering for those caught up in their web.

These organizations are committed to ill-gotten profits and power. Some boast huge numbers and often the takedowns of even key figures aren’t enough to stop the group from carrying on. It takes a lot of resources, manpower and smarts on the law enforcement side to catch and convict these criminals.

In this article, we’ll walk through some well-known—and not-so-well-known—organized crime cases where law enforcement was able to get the upper hand and explain how they did it.

What is organized crime?

But first, let’s start with defining organized crime. According to the FBI, organized crime is the associations of individuals who operate illegally to gain power, influence and wealth. Organized crime enterprises can be organized by clans, networks or hierarchies. They’re often involved in crimes like:

Drug trafficking
Human trafficking
Firearms trafficking
Illegal gambling
Migrant smuggling

Though groups organized via local ethnic ties (like the Mafia or the Westies) are well-known, criminal enterprises can do their work all across the world thanks to international ties and the Internet.

Often, the FBI in the U.S works to breakdown international and national organized crime enterprises by using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statue (RICO act). Passed in 1970, this act gives authorities more leverage to pursue civil and criminal penalties for racketeering activity against groups of people working as part of an on-going criminal enterprise.

In the cases that follow, you’ll see more specific actions taken by law enforcement to catch and convict individuals in organized crime enterprises.

A closer look at 5 fascinating organized crime cases

1. the st. valentine’s day massacre and capone’s downfall.

February 14, 1929 , is known as the date of one of the most violent events ever to occur in Chicago gang history. The infamous Al Capone and George “Bugs” Moran ran opposing enterprises on the north and south sides of Chicago, respectively. Capone made huge sums of money through bootlegging, speakeasies, gambling and prostitution through the 1920s and sought to consolidate the gangs of Chicago to increase his personal wealth.

On February 14, seven members of Moran’s gang were brutally gunned down in a parking garage in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Over 70 rounds of ammunition were fired. When police arrived at the scene, only one gang member was found alive. He later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Eyewitness reported that two men dressed as police officers and two in plain clothes entered the garage and pretended to arrest the men in the garage, but instead shot them. Moran himself was meant to be at the garage, but on the way, he saw the men dressed as police officers and decided to stop for coffee instead, saving his own life.

Though no one was ever brought to trial for the murders, Al Capone was eventually put in prison for income tax evasion thanks to diligent forensic accounting by special agent Frank Wilson and other members of the Intelligence Unit of the Internal Revenue Service. Wilson and the others reviewed over two million documents to find several ledgers containing income that Capone had not reported. He was convicted and sentence to eleven years in prison, in addition to $80,000 in fines and court costs.

2. Operation Trojan Shield

Operation Trojan Shield was put into effect in just 2018. The international effort , coordinated by the FBI, resulted in more than 800 arrests. A search warrant affidavit filled by an FBI Special Agent in San Diego allowed the FBI to identify over 300 transnational criminal organization using a platform called ANOM, run with collaboration by the FBI.

Traffickers and criminals used ANOM devices and platforms to send encrypted messages planning and coordinating their activities. They didn’t know copies of those same messages were sent to the FBI, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies. Those agencies gathered over 27 million messages.

This international effort was able to show connections around the world. Because of the messages, Australian Federal Police were able disrupt 20 threats to kill people. Authorities in Europe seized more than 8 tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis and several tons of other drugs, along with 55 luxury vehicles and over $48 million in various worldwide currencies and cryptocurrencies.

3. United States v Antony Salerno, et al (The Mafia commission trial)

This 1986 trial is known as one of the most significant blows to organized crime in the United States. Formerly confidential information about the Mafia’s internal organization was revealed, and eight defendants were convicted of racketeering including some of the “dons” and underbosses of New York’s five most-prominent crime families, also known as “the Commission” or “La Cosa Nostra.”

The court indictments were the products of five years of investigations, 171 court-authorized wiretaps and the work of more than 200 federal agents. By the time the trial started, there were more than 25 indictment counts including charges of extortion, narcotics, gambling, labor racketeering and murder.

One of the most dramatic moments of the trial occurred when Angelo Lonardo, former Cleveland mafia underboss, took the stand and broke the Mafia’s “omerta” code of silence. Lonardo had been offered a deal by the FBI—testimony in exchange for a reduced sentence and possible parole for his own conviction on drug charges. He provided insights into how the Commission operated. Lonardo’s family in Cleveland communicated to the Commission via Tony Salerno. He pointed out Salerno in court and called out Salerno as the current boss of the Genovese crime family.

The ten-week trial ended with eight convictions of involvement in the Commission and more specific criminal acts from the Genovese, Lucchese, Colombo and Bonanno families.

4. Kansas City Massacre

This June 17, 1933, massacre took the lives of four FBI agents and their federal prisoner, Frank Nash, outside the Union Railway Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Nash already had a long history of criminal activity and was being brought back to a U.S. penitentiary after escaping.

The four individuals indicted of the shooting were said to have connections with Nash in the crime world and didn’t want him sharing potentially damning information with law enforcement. The four individuals—Richard Galatas, Herbert Farmer, “Doc” Louis Stacci and Frank Mulloy—were found guilty of conspiracy to cause the escape of a federal prisoner from the custody of the United States. Each were sentenced to serve two years in a federal penitentiary and pay a fine of $10,000, the maximum penalty allowed by law at the time.

The events of the Kansas City Massacre changed the operations of the FBI. Before, the agency wasn’t permitted to carry firearms or make arrests. After the massacre, Congress gave the FBI statuary authority to carry guns and make arrests, making FBI agents much closer to what they are today.

5. Operation Family Secrets

This seven-year investigation is known as one of the most successful organized crime law enforcement efforts ever conducted. It all started when a letter arrived at the Chicago FBI office from Frank Calabrese Jr. in prison. Calabrese Jr. wanted to help put his father, a mobster, away for life. Nick Calabrese, Frank’s brother, also became an informant.

The investigation led to indictments among 14 defendants affiliated with the Chicago outfit, the Windy City’s mafia organization. Eighteen murders and one attempted murder were investigated with the rest of the crimes encompassing loansharking and bookmaking.

Throughout the 2007 trial, more than 125 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence were presented. Frank Calabrese was sentenced to life in prison for 13 slayings (among other crimes).

Could a crime-solving career be in your future?

Though we’ve explored organized crime cases with convicted criminals behind bars, many more cases stand unsolved. The world of organized crime is changing. The Mafia, cartels and other organized crime rings still exist, but catching underworld criminals today might look more like Operation Trojan Shield than hunting down mob bosses on the street. No matter how methods may change, the need to help reel in criminal behavior remains constant.

Does the thrill of the chase and the investigative nature of solving crime sound like something you could devote your career to? Our article “Investigate Your Future: Are You Destined for a Crime-Solving Career?” highlights some of the other key signs you’d thrive in an investigative role.

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When we think of criminals, we often think of singular members of society. However, it's not only individuals that are capable of committing crimes. Sometimes the state is responsible for committing crimes. For obvious reasons, it can often be much more complicated to identify and prosecute offenders of state crimes .

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Let's explore the idea of state crimes in the following article.

We will be looking at the definition, types, examples, offenders, and victims of state crimes.
We will also look at the relationship between state crime and international human rights, as well as the role of bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
We will evaluate the various complexities associated with holding states accountable for their crimes.

State crimes in sociology

State crimes are a key topic in the topic of crime and deviance in sociology ; it is a distinct type of crime that is studied by sociologists. Let's consider the definition of state crimes.

Definition of state crime in criminology and sociology

Green and Ward (2005) 1 defined state crimes as:

illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by the state, or with the complicity of state agencies."

Simply put:

State crimes refer to any crime committed by, or on behalf of nation-states to achieve their individual policies.

The difference between individual and state crimes

While criminal law usually concerns itself with crimes on behalf of an individual (natural or legal), state crime is more concerned with crimes on behalf of organisations . It is interesting to note that while governments of states may break their own laws, state crime usually focuses more on states breaking international law.

Types of state crime in sociology

According to Eugene McLaughlin (2001), there are four types of state crime. These are the following:

Crimes committed by police and security

Political crimes

Economic crimes, social and cultural crimes, core international crimes, examples of state crimes in sociology.

We will go through each category of state crime below and provide examples.

Crimes by security and police forces

Crimes by security and police forces include genocide, torture, and war crimes. Although these types of crimes may have similarities and overlaps, it is important to note the differences between them.

Genocide is the deliberate killing of a group of people belonging to a nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying the nation or ethnicity.

Torture is the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental.

A war crime refers to a deliberate violation of laws of war by those in the field, such as killing innocent civilians or sexually abusing women during the invasion of another country.

Political crimes include corruption and censorship. Corruption is the dishonest or fraudulent conduct by someone in power, for example, a political figure electing themselves into power without democratic means (no election, or rigged election).

Censorship is the deliberate suppression of any form of information. For example, the removal of a film scene by labelling it as too political, when it is merely portraying the reality of the political situation of a country.

Another form of political state crime is assassination , which refers to the premeditated act of killing someone, suddenly and secretly. State-sponsored assassination or 'targeted killing' of terrorists has increasingly become a debated topic.

Bribery is an important example of a state economic crime.

Bribery refers to giving something of value to influence the actions of someone in charge of public or legal duty. It is a sad truth that public officials in many countries accept bribes from major corporations. In return, they either enable legislation that supports such organisations, or conveniently overlook their mistakes.

Social and cultural crimes include discrimination and institutional racism.

Discrimination is the unjust treatment of different categories of people based on their characteristics, such as age, sex, ethnicity, nationality, or religious beliefs. This may happen, for example, when government legislations disadvantage certain groups in society more than others.

Institutional racism is a form of discrimination that has been going on for so long that it has now become embedded in the laws, structure, and functioning of a society or organisation. The 'Black Lives Matter' movement is based on fighting against such institutional racism in the USA.

We will also consider a specific category of state crime, called core international crimes .

Core international crimes are crimes that are considered so gross that they threaten the peace, security, and well-being of humanity as a whole. The crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes are collectively recognised as the core international crimes.

Under international law, the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute these crimes falls on states. It is thus ironic that sometimes, it is the state itself that is the perpetrator.

Since states have control over large territories and a massive population, the extent of state crime in terms of numbers can be staggering.

The Cambodian genocide in the 1970s wiped out about 25 percent of the population, an estimated 2 million people. Similarly, during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, members of the Hutu majority group slaughtered approximately 500,000 - 1,000,000 of the minority Tutsi group, about 20 percent of Rwanda’s total population.

State Crime, Soldiers running with guns on the sand, StudySmarter

Offenders of state crimes

So, who are the offenders of state crimes? Whenever any individual associated with the government harms the rights of someone to pursue the interests or policies of the state, it can be said to be a state crime.

However, it may not always be obvious who the offenders of state crimes are. How wide is the scope of what counts as 'the state'?

Jeffrey Ian Ross (2000) defined a state as "the elected and appointed officials, the bureaucracy, and the institutions, bodies, and organisations comprising the apparatus of the government".

If we analyse this definition, the state is essentially the government and everything it runs - including politicians or civil servants. Imagine a ship sailing in the ocean - it changes crew from time to time. Similarly, if the state is the ship, the governments that run it are the crew on the ship.

Further, the definition can be stretched to include public sector workers such as the police, doctors, teachers, and members of the armed forces - all of whom can be considered an extension of the state and whose acts contribute to state crime.

Note here that there are two important aspects for an act to be a state crime - the act must be done by someone who is an agent of the state, and the act must be done in furtherance of a state policy or interest.

Please note that just because an individual works for the state, that does not mean whatever wrong he commits is a state crime. For example, a civil servant can be involved in corruption for his own personal benefit. This is clearly not an example of a state crime.

Difficulty in defining the 'typical' victims of state crime

Due to the vast scope of state crimes, the study of victims and victimology in state crimes is extensive, and there are several definitions of what constitutes a victim.

Kauzlarich, Matthews and Miller (2001) 2 state that scholars have identified several groups of people as victims of state crime. These include:

civilians and war soldiers

groups targeted for genocide

individuals suffering from sexism, racism and classism

countries that are oppressed by other powerful countries

criminal suspects

the environment

Let's now consider a working definition of the victims of state crimes.

The victims of state crime: definition

Following from the above, who the victims of state crimes are largely depends on the nature of the state crime itself.

David Kauzlarich (1995) defined state crime victims as "individuals or groups of individuals who have experienced economic, cultural, or physical harm, pain, exclusion, or exploitation because of state actions or policies which violate the law or generally defined human rights".

Thus, any individual or group whose human rights have been violated due to an act of a state in furtherance of its policies may be a state crime victim.

Victims of state crime may further be divided into two types:

Victims of domestic state crime : victims whose rights have been violated by the government of their own state. For example, victims of religious discrimination perpetrated by their own government.

Victims of international state crime : victims whose rights have been violated by the government in another state (or states). For example, victims of war crimes.

State crimes and human rights

We will be looking at state crimes and human rights, specifically the relationship between the two.

Recognition and codification of state crimes

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was developed by the United Nations after World War II, in an attempt to codify basic human rights that are available to an individual as a birthright (by virtue of them being born as human beings).

The UDHR enlists thirty basic human rights and freedoms, which include:

Right to life and liberty

Right to freedom from torture

Right to freedom of speech, opinion, thoughts, and expression

Right to equality

Right to work

Right to privacy

Right to seek asylum

Human rights can be violated if they are not protected or are disregarded.

A human rights violation refers to a situation where someone's human rights are not protected or blatantly disregarded.

State crimes: international human rights law and obligations of states

The basic principles of international human rights law provide that states have three major obligations in relation to human rights:

They must respect human rights and not violate these rights themselves.

They must protect individuals and groups against human rights violations.

They should take positive steps to ensure individuals enjoy their human rights.

The second and third obligations are indicative of the fact that it is not enough for states to merely refrain from violating rights, they must take positive action towards the materialisation of such rights and freedoms.

Criminologists such as Herman Schwendinger (1970) used this framework to adopt a transgressive approach to state crime. They argued that any country that denies its people fundamental human rights which are available to people elsewhere, can be considered to be guilty of state crime. Consider the example below:

Countries that do not recognise homosexuality and deny LGBTQ individuals basic rights may be considered to be committing state crimes.

Based on this, state crime can be classified as:

Direct state crime : intentionally performed by states.

Indirect state crime : the result of the state failing to protect someone’s rights.

State Crime, UN building with flags of different countries, StudySmarter

Liability of states for state crimes

You may ask - if states themselves are responsible for their own justice systems, and it is the states themselves who are perpetrating crimes, who holds them responsible?

It is an extremely valid question; one that has puzzled the international community for a long time, especially in the aftermath of gross violations of human rights, such as in the case of the Holocaust.

That is how the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into existence. In creating the ICC, the global community of sovereign nations recognised that it was necessary to put an end to grave crimes that violated the rights of many.

The ICC, established by the Rome Statute, acts as a court of last resort that can try individuals alleged of committing crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes when the domestic jurisdiction of the state in question is incapable of doing so. This means it can try states as well. However, the reality of the matter remains that states are rarely tried at the ICC.

Complexities associated with state crime

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that in 2000, approximately 310,000 people were killed as a result of collective war-related violence; a figure equivalent to 20 percent of all global violent deaths at the time. Even then, this figure did not include domestic deaths caused by security and police forces, given the secrecy that is associated with a state crime.

This is indicative of how measuring state crime is a difficult task. Stan Cohen (1996) identified a ‘spiral of denial’ that states use when accused of human rights abuses.

In fact, due to the hegemony and power associated with states around the globe, state crime is fraught with complexities. Some of them are discussed below.

State crimes: secrecy related to state actions

Law enforcement is a part of the state's responsibility and oftentimes, it is the law enforcement officials who engage in state crimes. This makes it difficult to identify the culprits and hold them accountable.

Resistance on behalf of states to acknowledge the violation of rights

Often, states hide behind nationalistic views or the need to promote domestic security as an excuse to propagate state crimes. This is a good example of neutralisation techniques, identified by Sykes and Matza (1957) in the 'neutralisation theory'.

According to the theory, the wrongdoer may sometimes use neutralisation techniques such as denial of responsibility, denial of injury, and denial of the victim, among others, to neutralise or justify their actions.

State crimes: difficulty in the enforcement of international law

As opposed to individuals or organisations, states are difficult to hold accountable. International law, regardless of the presence of bodies such as the ICC, has extremely limited effects on states. For example, a state is not bound by international law if it does not ratify particular legislation.

State Crimes - Key takeaways

State crime refers to any crime committed by, or on behalf of nation-states to achieve their individual policies.
There are four categories of state crime: crimes by security and police forces (genocide, torture, and war crime), political crimes (corruption, assassination, and censorship), economic crimes (bribery), and social and cultural crimes (discrimination and institutional racism).
Some examples of state crimes are genocide, war crimes, torture, assassination, corruption, and discrimination.
The ICC was established by the Rome Statute and acts as a court of last resort for crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes when the domestic jurisdiction of the state in question is incapable of doing so.
There are multiple complexities associated with quantifying and identifying state crimes. Some of them include secrecy related to state actions, state denial to acknowledge state crimes, and difficulty in enforcing international law.
Green, P. Ward, T (2005) Introduction. The British Journal of Criminology. (Vol. 45 Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azi030
Kauzlarich, D. Matthews, RA. Miller, J. (2001) Toward a Victimology of State Crime. Critical Criminology. Kluwer Law International. http://jthomasniu.org/class/781/Assigs/kauzvictimology.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions about State Crimes

--> what is meant by a state crime.

Green and Ward (2005) define state crime as ‘illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by the state, or with the complicity of state agencies’. Simply put, any crime committed by, or on behalf of nation-states to achieve their individual policies is a state crime.

--> What are some examples of state crimes?

Examples of state crime include genocide, war crimes, torture, assassination, corruption, discrimination, and funding terrorist groups and other criminal organisations.

--> Who commits state crimes?

State crime can be committed by any individual associated with the government, who harms the rights of someone in order to pursue the interests or policies of the state. However, an agent of the state who is acting for his own benefit rather than for the state’s benefit will not be said to have committed a state crime.

--> Who is a typical victim of state crime?

A state victim is typically any individual or group whose human rights have been violated due to an act of a state in furtherance of its policies. An example of this is a victim of religious discrimination perpetrated by their own government.

--> Why is state crime a crime?

More often than not, a state crime is a crime due to a state breaking some aspect of international law. For example, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enlists certain basic freedoms and rights. If a state does not adhere to them, this leads to a violation. The state is said to have committed a crime.

What are state crimes?

State crime is any crime committed by, or on behalf of nation-states to achieve their individual policies.

What are the various types of state crime?

The four types of state crime are crimes by security and police forces, political crimes, economic crimes, and social and cultural crimes.

What are some examples of state crime?

Some examples of state crimes are genocide, war crime, torture, assassination, corruption, discrimination and funding organised crimes such as terrorist groups.

Which crimes are considered ‘core international crimes’?

The crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, are collectively known as core international crimes.

What is the meaning of a state?

Ross (2000) defines a state as "the elected and appointed officials, the bureaucracy, and the institutions, bodies, and organisations comprising the apparatus of the government".

Who can be a victim of state crime?

Any individual or group whose human rights have been violated due to an act of a state in furtherance of its policies may be a state crime victim.

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Criminal Law Cases Outline

While statutes and regulations define many crimes, understanding the nuances of criminal law also requires exploring cases that have interpreted common-law, statutory, and constitutional principles. Among other things, courts have helped shape the criminal justice system, outline what the prosecution must prove to get a conviction, and define the strategies that a defendant can use to protect their freedom. Below is an outline of key cases in criminal law with links to the full text of virtually every case, provided free by Justia.

1 Due Process and the Scope of Criminal Laws
2 Elements of a Crime
5 Blackmail
7 Accomplices
8 Conspiracy
9 Corporate Liability
10 Strict Liability Crimes
11 Addiction, Alcoholism, and Status Offenses
12 Self-Defense and Defense of Property
13 Necessity and Duress Defenses
14 Mistake of Fact or Law Defenses
15 Insanity Defense
16 Prosecutors and Plea Bargains
17 Jury Trials in Criminal Cases
18 Sentencing for Crimes

Due Process and the Scope of Criminal Laws

The doctrine of due process provides that a defendant cannot face criminal penalties unless the law clearly prohibits their conduct. Criminal laws should be understandable to ordinary people and should not pose a risk of arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement.

McBoyle v. U.S. 一 A fair warning should be given to the world, in language that the common world will understand, of what the law intends to do if a certain line is passed.

Smith v. U.S. 一 A criminal who trades his firearm for drugs uses it during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime within the meaning of the federal statute.

Commonwealth v. Mochan 一 The common law is sufficiently broad to punish as a misdemeanor, although there may be no exact precedent, any act that directly injures or tends to injure the public to such an extent as to require the state to interfere and punish the wrongdoer.

Chicago v. Morales 一 Vagueness may invalidate a criminal law if it fails to provide the kind of notice that will enable ordinary people to understand what conduct it prohibits, or if it authorizes or encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.

Keeler v. Superior Court 一 An unforeseeable judicial enlargement of a criminal statute, applied retroactively, operates like an ex post facto law, which the Constitution forbids.

Rogers v. Tennessee 一 A judicial alteration of a common-law doctrine of criminal law violates the principle of fair warning, and thus must not be given retroactive effect, only when it is unexpected and indefensible by reference to the law that had been expressed prior to the conduct at issue.

Elements of a Crime

Most crimes contain act (actus reus) and mental state (mens rea) elements. Sometimes the act element involves a failure to act when a defendant was subject to a legal duty. The four main mental states, in descending order of culpability, are intent (or purpose), knowledge, recklessness, and criminal negligence.

Martin v. State 一 A criminal act must be voluntary to support a conviction.

Jones v. City of Los Angeles 一 A law must criminalize conduct rather than status.

Jones v. U.S . 一 A defendant may be held criminally liable for breaching a legal duty through a failure to act in four situations: when a statute imposed a duty on the defendant to care for another person, when the defendant held a certain status relationship to another person, when the defendant assumed a contractual duty to care for another person, or when the defendant voluntarily assumed the care of another person and secluded them so that other people could not provide aid.

People v. Carroll 一 A person who acts as the functional equivalent of a parent in a familial or household setting is a person legally responsible for a child’s care.

People v. Beardsley 一 While it is the moral duty of every person to extend to others assistance when in danger, no legal duty is created based on a mere moral obligation.

Pope v. State 一 A person may not be punished as a felon for failing to fulfill a moral obligation.

Regina v. Cunningham 一 In any statutory definition of a crime, malice must be taken not in the sense of wickedness in general but instead as requiring either an actual intention to do the particular kind of harm that in fact was done, or recklessness as to whether such harm should occur.

Regina v. Faulkner 一 “Malice” requires that the act done must be intentional and willful, although the intention and will may perhaps be held to exist in, or be proved by, the fact that the accused knew that the injury would be the probable result of their unlawful act, and yet did the act reckless of such consequences.

State v. Hazelwood 一 Criminal negligence is met when a risk is of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.

Santillanes v. State 一 The purpose of the criminal negligence standard is to deter behavior that is culpable, or that entails greater risk or fault than mere inadvertence or simple negligence.

U.S. v. Giovanetti 一 Criminal knowledge based on willful ignorance cannot be found when a person did not act to avoid learning the truth.

U.S. v. Jewell 一 To impute criminal knowledge to a defendant based on willful ignorance, the defendant must have been ignorant solely because they had a conscious purpose to avoid learning the truth.

First-degree murder usually requires a finding of premeditation, while second-degree murder usually involves other intentional homicides. A severe provocation can reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter generally involves a homicide that was reckless or grossly negligent. The felony murder rule makes defendants liable for murder in many instances involving deaths related to certain other felonies.

Commonwealth v. Carroll 一 No time is too short for a wicked man to frame in his mind his scheme of murder.

State v. Guthrie 一 There must be some evidence that the defendant considered and weighed their decision to kill to establish premeditation and deliberation for first-degree murder.

People v. Anderson 一 Evidence sufficient to sustain a finding of premeditation and deliberation falls into three categories: facts about how and what the defendant did prior to the killing that show that the defendant was engaged in activity directed toward the killing, facts from which the jury could reasonably infer a motive to kill the victim, and facts about the nature of the killing from which the jury could infer that the defendant must have intentionally killed according to a preconceived design to take the victim’s life in a particular way.

Girouard v. State 一 Words can constitute adequate provocation to reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter if they are accompanied by conduct indicating a present intention and ability to cause the defendant bodily harm.

U.S. v. Bordeaux 一 If the defendant had enough time between the provocation and the homicide to reflect on their intended course of action, the fact of passion does not reduce the crime from murder to voluntary manslaughter.

Maher v. People 一 A reasonable or adequate provocation can be anything the natural tendency of which would be to produce such a state of mind in ordinary men, and that the jury are satisfied did produce it in the case before them.

State v. Simonovich 一 A defendant was not entitled to a voluntary manslaughter jury instruction when there was no evidence that he had found his wife in the very act of intercourse, or under circumstances clearly indicating that the act had just been completed, or was severely proximate.

Dennis v. State 一 Sexual intimacy or significant sexual contact are terms that cover too great a range of conduct to be acceptable as the basis for an adequate provocation related to adultery.

State v. Elliott 一 A homicide influenced by an extreme emotional disturbance is a killing brought about by a significant mental trauma that caused the defendant to brood for a long period of time and then react violently, seemingly without provocation.

People v. Casassa 一 A determination of whether there was a reasonable explanation or excuse for a particular emotional disturbance should be made by viewing the subjective, internal situation in which the defendant found himself and the external circumstances as he perceived them, and assessing from that standpoint whether the explanation or excuse was reasonable.

Commonwealth v. Welansky 一 To constitute wanton or reckless conduct, grave danger to others must have been apparent, and the defendant must have chosen to run the risk rather than alter their conduct to avoid the act or omission that caused the harm. Even if the specific defendant did not realize the grave danger, they cannot escape the imputation of wanton or reckless conduct if an ordinary person under the same circumstances would have realized it.

People v. Hall 一 The charge of reckless manslaughter requires that the actor consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death could result from their actions.

State v. Williams 一 Statutes may supersede both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter as defined at common law and provide that manslaughter can be committed even if the death was the proximate result of only ordinary negligence.

Commonwealth v. Malone 一 Malice is evidenced by the intentional doing of an uncalled-for act in callous disregard of its likely harmful effects on others.

U.S. v. Fleming 一 Malice may be established by evidence of conduct that is reckless and wanton and a gross deviation from a reasonable standard of care, such that a jury is warranted in inferring that the defendant was aware of a serious risk of death or serious bodily harm.

Regina v. Serne 一 Any act known to be dangerous to life and likely in itself to cause death, done for the purpose of committing a felony that causes death, should be murder.

People v. Stamp 一 As long as a homicide is a direct causal result of a robbery, the felony-murder rule applies regardless of whether the death was a natural or probable consequence of the robbery. A felon is strictly liable for all killings committed by their accomplices or them in the course of the felony.

People v. Gillis 一 Actions immediately connected with a felony, including attempts to escape or prevent detection, are a continuous part of the commission or perpetration of the felony.

People v. Cabaltero 一 A homicide was committed in the perpetration of a robbery when it was done while the conspirators were attempting to flee from the scene with the fruits of the robbery in their possession.

State v. Canola 一 It is regressive to extend the felony murder rule to lethal acts of third persons not in furtherance of the felonious scheme.

People v. Acosta 一 In a proximate cause inquiry, the analysis is whether the defendant’s conduct was the actual cause of the harm (would it have occurred as it did but for their actions?), whether the result was an intended consequence of the act, whether the defendant’s action was a substantial factor in the harm, and whether the result was highly extraordinary in light of the circumstances.

People v. Arzon 一 Causation between arson and a death was found when it was foreseeable that the victim would be exposed to a life-threatening danger, the fire was an indispensable link in the chain of events that resulted in the death, and the defendant’s act placed the victim in a position in which they were particularly vulnerable.

People v. Kibbe 一 To be a sufficiently direct cause of death, the ultimate harm must have been something that should have been foreseen as being reasonably related to the acts of the defendant.

People v. Campbell 一 When a defendant had no present intention to kill, but merely hoped that the victim would commit suicide, this did not satisfy the intent required for murder.

People v. Kevorkian 一 There is a distinction between active participation in a suicide and involvement in the events leading up to the suicide, such as providing the means.

Stephenson v. State 一 When suicide follows a wound inflicted by the defendant, their act is homicidal if the victim was rendered irresponsible by the wound and as a natural result of it. The wound does not need to be physical.

Commonwealth v. Root 一 When the victim was drag racing with the defendant and recklessly swerved their car into the path of an oncoming truck, this was not forced upon them by any act of the defendant. The victim brought about their own demise.

People v. Kern 一 Defendants who chased and threatened the victim while carrying weapons were liable for the victim’s death when the only reasonable alternative for the victim was to seek safety by crossing a highway, where they were hit by a car and killed.

State v. McFadden 一 The foreseeability requirement, coupled with the requirement of recklessness, prevents the risk of harsh or unjust results in involuntary manslaughter cases.

Commonwealth v. Atencio 一 Wanton or reckless conduct could be found in the concerted action and cooperation of the defendants in helping to bring about the victim’s foolish act.

Many rape cases hinge on force and lack of consent, since the underlying conduct is not inherently criminal. Consent must be voluntary, and a person must have the capacity to consent. Resistance is not necessarily required if the prosecution can show that the defendant used threats that prevented resistance.

State v. Rusk 一 To justify a conviction for rape, the evidence must warrant a conclusion either that the victim resisted but was overcome by force, or that the victim was prevented from resisting by threats to their safety. Lack of consent is established through proof of resistance or proof that the victim failed to resist because of fear.

State v. DiPetrillo 一 When resistance to the defendant’s inappropriate conduct might result in an adverse work-related consequence, this is not an implied threat of force or violence.

State v. Thompson 一 The definition of force cannot be stretched to include intimidation, fear, or apprehension.

Commonwealth v. Mlinarich 一 The non-volitional aspect of rape requires only that the conduct by the actor would prevent resistance by a person of reasonable resolution.

People v. Evans 一 If the defendant uttered words that were taken as a threat by the person who heard them, but were not intended as a threat by the defendant, there is no basis for finding the necessary criminal intent.

Boro v. Superior Court 一 If a deception causes a misunderstanding as to the fact itself (fraud in the factum), there is no consent. If a deception relates merely to a collateral matter (fraud in the inducement), consent induced by fraud is as effective as any other consent.

Commonwealth v. Sherry 一 Any resistance is enough when it demonstrates that the lack of consent is honest and real.

Commonwealth v. Fischer 一 When physical force is alleged in a sexual assault, the defendant generally cannot claim that they reasonably believed that they had consent.

Blackmail or extortion often involves threats to reveal criminal or embarrassing conduct by the target if they do not provide money or another financial benefit to the defendant.

State v. Harrington 一 Blackmail may involve a demand for settlement of a civil action, accompanied by a malicious threat to expose the wrongdoer’s criminal conduct, if made with intent to extort payment, against their will.

People v. Fichtner 一 The law does not authorize the collection of just debts by threatening to accuse the debtor of a crime, even though the complainant is guilty of the crime.

For a conviction based on attempt, the defendant generally must have intended to cause the prohibited result. Tests for the act requirement of attempt include the substantial step, last step, and dangerous proximity tests.

State v. Raines 一 An intent to kill may be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon directed at a vital part of the human body.

Smallwood v. State 一 It is permissible to infer that a person intends the natural and probable consequences of their act.

Regina v. Eagleton 一 For a conviction based on attempt, the defendant must have taken the last step that he was able to take on the path of his criminal intent.

People v. Rizzo 一 The law considers those acts only as tending to the commission of a crime that are so near to its accomplishment that in all reasonable probability the crime would have been committed but for timely interference.

U.S. v. Jackson 一 For a conviction of attempt, the defendant must have engaged in conduct that constitutes a substantial step toward commission of the crime. A substantial step must be conduct strongly corroborative of the firmness of the defendant’s criminal intent.

Accomplices

An “accomplice” is a person who facilitates criminal conduct by another person, known as the “principal.” They may be charged with the same crime as the principal. Accomplice liability usually requires an intent to aid or encourage the principal in committing the crime.

Hicks v. U.S. 一 For a conviction based on aiding and abetting, the acts or words of encouragement and abetting must have been used by the defendant with the intention of encouraging and abetting the principal.

State v. Gladstone 一 There is no aiding and abetting unless the defendant associated himself with the venture in some way, participated in it as in something that he wished to accomplish, and sought by his action to make it succeed.

U.S. v. Fountain 一 Aiding and abetting murder is established by proof that the supplier of the murder weapon knew the purpose for which it would be used.

State v. McVay 一 There may be an accessory before the fact in some types of manslaughter.

People v. Russell 一 The fact that defendants set out to injure or kill one another does not preclude a finding that they intentionally aided each other to engage in the mutual combat that caused another person’s death.

People v. Abbott 一 Accessorial liability may attach for criminally negligent homicide if the accessory shared the requisite culpable mental state for the crime and intentionally aided in its commission.

Commonwealth v. Roebuck 一 An accomplice may be held accountable for contributing to conduct to the degree that their culpability equals what is required to support the liability of a principal.

People v. Luparello 一 An accomplice is guilty not only of the offense that they intended to facilitate or encourage, but also of any reasonably foreseeable offense committed by the person whom they aid and abet.

Roy v. U.S. 一 An accessory is liable for a criminal act that in the ordinary course of things was the natural and probable consequence of the crime that they advised or commanded, even if they may not have intended this consequence.

State ex. rel. Attorney General v. Tally, Judge 一 It is enough if the aid merely makes it easier for the principal to accomplish the end intended by the principal and the aider and abetter, even if in all probability the end would have been attained without it.

State v. Hayes 一 When an act essential to the crime was not imputable to a defendant charged with aiding and abetting, their guilt was not made out. The intent and act must combine, and all the elements of the act must exist and be imputable to the defendant.

Vaden v. State 一 A principal does not need to be found guilty or even prosecuted in order to convict the accomplice.

Conspiracy generally involves an agreement to commit a crime in the future. It can be charged separately from the underlying crime. The federal government and certain other jurisdictions impose liability on a conspirator for crimes committed by other conspirators that were meant to further the conspiracy and were reasonably foreseeable.

Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. U.S. 一 To establish an agreement, the government may rely on inferences drawn from the course of conduct of the alleged conspirators.

People v. Lauria 一 Both the element of knowledge of the illegal use of the goods or services and the element of intent to further that use must be present to make the supplier a participant in a criminal conspiracy.

Pinkerton v. U.S. 一 A party to a continuing conspiracy may be responsible for substantive offenses committed by a co-conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy, even if they do not participate in the substantive offenses or have any knowledge of them.

State v. Bridges 一 A co-conspirator may be liable for the commission of substantive criminal acts that are not within the scope of the conspiracy if they are reasonably foreseeable as the necessary or natural consequences of the conspiracy.

U.S. v. Alvare z 一 Murder could be a reasonably foreseeable consequence of a drug conspiracy when a substantial amount of drugs and money were involved. This meant that the conspirators must have been aware of the likelihood that at least some of them would be carrying weapons and that deadly force would be used if necessary to protect their interests.

Corporate Liability

Corporations may be charged with crimes committed by their officers and agents. The federal government and many other jurisdictions hold a corporation liable when an agent commits a crime within the scope of their employment with the intent to benefit the corporation.

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co. v. U.S. 一 Congress can impute to a corporation the commission of certain criminal offenses and subject it to prosecution for them.

U.S. v. Hilton Hotels Corp. 一 A corporation is liable under the Sherman Act for the acts of its agents in the scope of their employment, even if these are contrary to general corporate policy and express instructions to the agent.

U.S. v. Automated Medical Laboratories, Inc. 一 An agent’s conduct may be imputed to a corporation in a criminal case if it is motivated at least in part by an intent to benefit the corporation, even if it is actually or potentially detrimental to the corporation.

Commonwealth v. Beneficial Finance Co. 一 A corporation may be convicted for the acts of its agent if the corporation placed the agent in a position in which they had enough authority and responsibility to act for and on behalf of the corporation in handling the corporate business, operation, or project in which they were engaged when they committed the criminal act.

U.S. v. Guidant, LLC 一 Probation can be an appropriate penalty for a corporation when this would serve the public interest in accountability.

U.S. v. Park 一 Corporate officer liability for strict liability offenses requires only a finding that the officer had authority with respect to the conditions that formed the basis of the alleged violations.

U.S. v. MacDonald & Watson Waste Oil Co. 一 When a crime has knowledge as an express element, a mere showing of official responsibility is not an adequate substitute for direct or circumstantial proof of knowledge.

Strict Liability Crimes

A strict liability crime is an offense that does not require proving a mental state element. These are generally limited to violations of regulations that protect public safety and health.

Morissette v. U.S. 一 Mere omission from a criminal statute of any mention of intent is not to be construed as eliminating that element from the crimes defined.

U.S. v. Balint 一 To constitute the offense of selling drugs contrary to Section 2 of the Anti-Narcotic Act, it is not necessary that the seller be aware of their character.

U.S. v. Dotterweich 一 Legislation that dispenses with the requirement of awareness of wrongdoing puts the burden of acting at hazard on a person who is otherwise innocent but standing in responsible relation to a public danger.

Staples v. U.S . 一 Without a clear statement from Congress that mens rea is not required, the public welfare offense rationale should not be applied to interpret any statute defining a felony offense as dispensing with mens rea.

U.S. v. Freed 一 The absence of a specific intent requirement in an essentially regulatory statute in the area of public safety does not violate due process.

U.S. v. X-Citement Video, Inc. 一 In a statute prohibiting the distribution of child pornography, the term “knowingly” extends both to the sexually explicit nature of the material and the age of the performers.

Addiction, Alcoholism, and Status Offenses

Drug addiction and chronic alcoholism generally are not defenses to crimes such as drug possession or public intoxication. However, a statute cannot criminalize the status of being a drug addict or an alcoholic. Other laws based on status also are generally unconstitutional.

Robinson v. California 一 A state law that imprisons a drug addict as a criminal, even though he has never touched any drug in the state or been guilty of irregular behavior there, inflicts a cruel and unusual punishment and thus is unconstitutional.

Jones v. City of Los Angeles 一 The Eighth Amendment prohibits enforcement against homeless individuals of a law that criminalizes sitting, lying, or sleeping on public streets and sidewalks, since they are engaging in these actions involuntarily due to the unavailability of shelter.

Powell v. Texas 一 Chronic alcoholics do not suffer from such an irresistible compulsion to drink and get drunk in public that they are utterly unable to control their performance of these acts and cannot be deterred from public intoxication.

State ex rel. Harper v. Zegeer 一 Criminally punishing alcoholics for being publicly intoxicated violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment under the West Virginia Constitution.

U.S. v. Moore 一 Drug addiction is not a defense to a charge of drug possession.

Self-Defense and Defense of Property

Self-defense allows a person to use deadly force based on a reasonable belief that they faced an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. Jurisdictions have taken varying approaches to the duty to retreat before using deadly force. There is no duty to retreat before using non-deadly force. Many jurisdictions do not allow deadly force to protect property, unless a person illegally entered a home, but non-deadly force to protect property is widely accepted.

U.S. v. Peterson 一 The right to kill or maim in self-defense requires a threat, actual or apparent, of the use of deadly force. The threat must have been unlawful and immediate. The defender must have believed that they were in imminent peril of death or serious bodily harm and that their response was necessary to save them. These beliefs must have been honest and objectively reasonable.

People v. Goetz 一 A determination of reasonableness must be based on the circumstances facing a defendant or their situation. These may include the physical movements of the potential assailant, any relevant knowledge that the defendant had about that person, the physical attributes of everyone involved, and any prior experiences of the defendant that could provide a reasonable basis for a belief that the other person intended to injure or rob them or that the use of deadly force was necessary.

State v. Kelly 一 Expert testimony may be admissible in a case involving battered woman’s syndrome and self-defense to show that the defendant honestly believed that they were in imminent danger of death and that their belief that they faced an imminent danger of death or serious injury was reasonable.

State v. Norman 一 A self-defense jury instruction is not appropriate in a case involving battered woman’s syndrome unless evidence is introduced that tends to show that at the time of the killing, the defendant reasonably believed that she faced circumstances that necessitated killing her husband to save her from imminent death or great bodily harm.

State v. Abbott 一 Deadly force is not justifiable if the actor knows that they can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating.

Allen v. State 一 If a person by provocative behavior initiates a confrontation, even with no intention of killing the other person, they lose the right of self-defense.

People v. Ceballos 一 Bodily force cannot be justified to prevent all burglaries of a dwelling, including those in which nobody is, or is reasonably believed to be, on the premises except the would-be burglar.

Sydnor v. State 一 A victim of a robbery who disarms the robber and is no longer in immediate danger of death or serious bodily injury may not typically use deadly force in pursuit of the robber or to recover the stolen property.

Necessity and Duress Defenses

Necessity involves choosing the lesser of two evils, while duress involves committing a crime due to coercion by a threat or use of unlawful force that could not reasonably have been resisted. Traditionally, neither necessity nor duress is a defense to homicide.

People v. Unger 一 The absence of one of the Lovercamp preconditions does not alone disprove the claim of necessity and should not automatically preclude an instruction on the defense.

Commonwealth v. Leno 一 The necessity defense is not available when the legislature has precluded the defense by a clear and deliberate choice regarding the values at issue.

U.S. v. Schoon 一 The necessity defense is inapplicable to cases involving indirect civil disobedience.

State v. Toscano 一 Duress is a defense to a crime other than murder if the defendant engaged in conduct because they were coerced to do so by the use of, or threat to use, unlawful force against their person or the person of someone else, which a person of reasonable firmness in their situation would have been unable to resist.

Mistake of Fact or Law Defenses

A mistaken belief about a fact may defeat a criminal charge if the mistake was reasonable. Even if the mistake was not reasonable, this defense may defeat a charge that involves a specific intent element. A mistake of law defense is much more limited but sometimes may negate the mental state element of a crime.

State v. Benniefield 一 For a conviction of drug possession in a school zone, the prosecution does not need to prove that the defendant knew that he was in a school zone.

Regina v. Prince 一 It is no defense to a charge of abducting an unmarried girl under the age of 16 that the defendant believed, reasonably and in good faith, that the girl was older than 16.

People v. Olsen 一 A good-faith, reasonable mistake as to the victim’s age is not a defense to a lewd or lascivious conduct charge with a child under 14 years of age.

B (A Minor) v. Director of Public Prosecutions 一 A defendant is entitled to be acquitted of the offense of inciting a child under 14 to commit an act of gross indecency if they hold or may hold an honest belief that the child was 14 or older.

Garnett v. State 一 There is no reasonable mistake of age defense to statutory rape, since this is traditionally viewed as a strict liability crime designed to protect young persons from the dangers of sexual exploitation, loss of chastity, physical injury, and pregnancy.

People v. Marrero 一 When the government is not responsible for the error, mistake of law should not be available as an excuse.

People v. Weiss 一 Willful intent to seize a person without authority of law is an essential issue in a kidnapping case, and there is no intent to act without authority of law if the defendants believed in good faith that they were acting within the law.

Cheek v. U.S. 一 Statutory willfulness, which protects the average citizen from prosecution for innocent mistakes due to the complexity of the tax laws, is the voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty. A good-faith misunderstanding of the law or a good-faith belief that one is not violating the law negates willfulness, whether or not the claimed belief or misunderstanding is objectively reasonable.

Liparota v. U.S. 一 Without any indication of a contrary purpose in the statute’s language or legislative history, the government in a prosecution for food stamp fraud must prove that the defendant knew that their acquisition or possession of food stamps was in a manner unauthorized by statute or regulations.

U.S. v. Int’l Minerals & Chem. Corp. 一 When dangerous products are involved, the probability of regulation is so great that anyone who is aware that they are in possession of them or dealing with them must be presumed to be aware of the regulation.

U.S. v. Ansaldi 一 Knowledge of the law prohibiting drug manufacturing and distribution, or an intent to violate the law, is simply not an element of this offense.

U.S. v. Overholt 一 As the federal government has sought to protect the environment by imposing more and more restrictions on people handling dangerous chemicals, Congress has not intended to reduce the burden on such persons to inform themselves of what the law requires.

U.S. v. Albertini 一 A person whose conduct has been tried in court and vindicated on appeal can rely on the court’s decision in repeating the same conduct after receiving the appellate judgment, when the government has either filed a petition for certiorari or still has time to file such a petition, and the Supreme Court has not acted to grant or deny the petition.

Hopkins v. State 一 The advice of counsel, even though followed in good faith, furnishes no excuse to a person for violating the law and cannot be relied upon as a defense in a criminal action.

Lambert v. California 一 A municipal ordinance that makes it an offense for a person who has been convicted of a crime punishable in that state as a felony to remain in that city for more than five days without registering violates due process when it is applied to a person who has no actual knowledge of their duty to register, and when no showing is made of the probability of such knowledge.

U.S. v. Wilson 一 Unless the text of the statute at issue dictates a different result, establishing a knowing violation of the statute only requires proof of knowledge by the defendant of the facts that constitute the offense.

Insanity Defense

A defendant cannot be convicted of a crime if they were unable to understand what they were doing or understand that their actions were wrongful, due to a mental illness. However, a finding of insanity may lead to indefinite civil commitment.

M’Naghten’s Case 一 To establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that at the time of committing the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act that they were doing, or as not to know that what they were doing was wrong.

U.S. v. Lyons 一 Evidence of mere narcotics addiction, standing alone and without other physiological or psychological involvement, raises no issue of such a mental defect or disease as can serve as a basis for the insanity defense.

Jones v. U.S. 一 When a criminal defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that they are not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity, the Constitution permits the government to confine the defendant to a mental institution until such time as they have regained their sanity or are no longer a danger to society or them.

Prosecutors and Plea Bargains

A prosecutor should pursue charges only if they reasonably believe that they can prove that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Most criminal cases end with plea bargains. A guilty plea must be voluntary, knowing, and intelligent, but a prosecutor can use threats or inducements to the extent that their tactics are supported by the evidence in the case.

Inmates of Attica Correctional Facility v. Rockefeller 一 Federal courts have traditionally refrained from overturning, at the instance of a private person, discretionary decisions of federal prosecuting authorities not to prosecute persons regarding whom a complaint of criminal conduct is made.

U.S. v. Armstrong 一 For a defendant to be entitled to discovery on a claim that they were singled out for prosecution on the basis of their race, they must make a threshold showing that the government declined to prosecute similarly situated suspects of other races.

Santobello v. New York 一 When the prosecution failed to keep a commitment concerning the sentence recommendation on a guilty plea, the interests of justice and proper recognition of the prosecution’s duties in relation to promises made in connection with plea bargaining require that the judgment be vacated and that the case be remanded to the state courts for further consideration as to whether the circumstances require only that there be specific performance of the agreement on the plea, or whether the defendant should be allowed to withdraw the plea.

Padilla v. Kentucky 一 A criminal defense attorney must inform a non-citizen client whether their plea carries a risk of deportation.

Brady v. U.S. 一 A plea of guilty is not invalid merely because it was entered to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. A guilty plea meets the standard of voluntariness when it is made by a defendant fully aware of the direct consequences of the plea.

Bordenkircher v. Hayes 一 Although punishing a person because they have done what the law allows violates due process, there is no such element of punishment in the “give-and-take” of plea bargaining, as long as the accused is free to accept or reject the prosecutor’s offer. The reality that the prosecutor’s interest at the bargaining table is to persuade the defendant to forgo their right to plead not guilty is constitutionally legitimate.

Jury Trials in Criminal Cases

The Supreme Court has described the range of cases that entitle a defendant to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment and outlined certain requirements for the composition of a jury. The power of jury nullification may allow a jury to acquit a defendant despite overwhelming evidence of their guilt. However, this power is subject to strict limitations.

Duncan v. Louisiana 一 The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees a right to a jury trial in all criminal cases that would come within the Sixth Amendment guarantee of trial by jury if they were tried in a federal court. Crimes carrying possible penalties up to six months do not require a jury trial if they otherwise qualify as petty offenses.

Taylor v. Louisiana 一 The requirement that a jury be selected from a representative cross-section of the community is fundamental to the jury trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. This requirement is violated by the systematic exclusion of women from jury panels.

Batson v. Kentucky 一 While a defendant has no right to a jury composed in whole or in part of persons of their own race, the Equal Protection Clause guarantees the defendant that the prosecution will not exclude members of their race from the jury venire on account of race, or on the false assumption that members of their race as a group are not qualified to serve as jurors.

U.S. v. Dougherty 一 The fact that there is widespread existence of the jury’s prerogative of lenity, as well as approval of its existence as a necessary counter to case-hardened judges and arbitrary prosecutors, does not establish as an imperative that the jury must be informed by the judge of that power.

People v. Fernandez 一 A judge did not err in refusing to tell the jury that if it had found unanimously that the defendant was guilty of the greater offense, it could nonetheless return a verdict of guilty of the lesser offense instead.

People v. Engelman 一 A jury instruction may inform jurors at the outset of jury deliberations that jurors must immediately advise the court if any juror refuses to deliberate or expresses an intention to disregard the law or decide the case based on penalty or punishment, or any other improper basis.

U.S. v. Thomas 一 A judge faced with anything but unambiguous evidence that a juror refuses to apply the law as instructed need go no further in their investigation of the alleged nullification. In these circumstances, the juror is not subject to dismissal on the basis of their alleged refusal to follow the court’s instructions.

Merced v. McGrath 一 A prospective juror may be excused if the juror’s voir dire responses convey a definite impression that their views would prevent or substantially impair the performance of their duties as a juror in accordance with their instructions and their oath.

Sentencing for Crimes

The main purposes of criminal punishment are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. The death penalty is not unconstitutional per se, unless it is applied in an arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory way. However, it is generally limited to homicide, and the Eighth Amendment forbids any punishment that is grossly disproportionate to the crime.

U.S. v. Jackson 一 The selection of a sentence within the statutory range is essentially free of appellate review.

U.S. v. Gementera 一 The Sentencing Reform Act affords district courts broad discretion in fashioning appropriate conditions of supervised release, while mandating that such conditions serve legitimate objectives.

Williams v. New York 一 In considering the sentence to be imposed after a conviction, the sentencing judge is not restricted to information received in open court.

U.S. v. Deegan 一 When a sentence is within the advisory guideline range, it typically receives a presumption of reasonableness.

Harmelin v. Michigan 一 The Eighth Amendment does not require strict proportionality between crime and sentence but instead forbids only extreme sentences that are grossly disproportionate to the crime.

Ewing v. California 一 Nothing in the Eighth Amendment prohibits a state from choosing to incapacitate criminals who have already been convicted of at least one serious or violent crime.

Graham v. Florida 一 The Eighth Amendment does not permit a juvenile offender to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-homicide crime.

Miller v. Alabama 一 The Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile homicide offenders.

Gregg v. Georgia 一 The punishment of death for the crime of murder does not, under all circumstances, violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Atkins v. Virginia 一 Executions of mentally retarded criminals are cruel and unusual punishments prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

Roper v. Simmons 一 The Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.

Kennedy v. Louisiana 一 The Eighth Amendment is defined by the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. This principle requires that resort to capital punishment be restrained, limited in its instances of application, and reserved for the worst of crimes, those that, in the case of crimes against individuals, take the victim’s life.

This outline has been compiled by the Justia team for solely educational purposes and should not be treated as an independent source of legal authority or a summary of the current state of the law. Students should use this outline as a supplement rather than a substitute for course-specific outlines.

Last reviewed August 2023

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Below is a selection of representative federal hate crimes case summaries. Each includes a link to a DOJ press release, with additional information.

Texas | February 22, 2024 | Gender Identity

Texas Man Who Threatened Doctor Serving Transgender Patients Sentenced

A Texas man was sentenced to three months in prison for threatening a Boston doctor who provided care to gender nonconforming children.

After misinformation spread online about procedures being performed at the Boston Children’s Hospital, the defendant left a voicemail at the Boston-based National LGBTQIA+ Center, threatening to kill one of the Center’s affiliated doctors.

The man continued to try and contact the doctor, even calling a former employer and the university where the doctor worked.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/texas-man-indicted-threatening-doctor-affiliated-national-lgbtqia-health-education

Sentencing: District of Massachusetts | Texas Man Who Threatened Doctor Serving Transgender Patients Sentenced to Three Months in Prison | United States Department of Justice

Ohio | January 30, 2024 | Sexual Orientation, Religion

Ohio Man Pleads Sentenced for Firebombing a Church that Planned to Host Drag Show Events

An Ohio man was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for attempting to burn down a church because of its support for the LGBTQI+ community.

According to evidence, the defendant was angry the church intended to host two drag events. He threw two Molotov cocktails at the church on the night of March 25, 2023, attempting to burn the building down.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-sentenced-18-years-prison-firebombing-church-planned-host-drag-show-events

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-attempting-burn-down-church-planned-host-drag-show-events

Colorado | January 16, 2024 | Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation

Colorado Resident Charged with Federal Hate Crimes in Club Q

A Colorado resident has been charged with hate crimes and other crimes for killing five people, injuring 19, and the attempted killing of 28 more in Club Q, an LGBTQI+ nightclub.

The defendant entered Club Q with a loaded assault weapon and fired until he was subdued by patrons. Evidence indicates that the defendant targeted Club Q and the people inside because of their assumed gender identity and sexual orientation.

These are serious allegations. But the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Information: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/colorado-resident-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearm-offense-related-mass-shooting-club

North Carolina | January 11, 2024 | Race, National Origin

North Carolina Man Convicted of Federal Hate Crimes for Racially Motivated Attacks

A North Carolina man has been convicted of federal hate crimes for his racially motivated attacks on a Black man and his Hispanic neighbor.

According to evidence, in November 2021, the defendant attacked his Hispanic neighbor, yelling slurs before punching and tackling him. And in October of 2022, the defendant encountered a Black driver, swerved into his lane, got out of his vehicle, and began to punch the driver’s car and yell racial slurs at him. The defendant followed the driver home, where he continued yelling racial slurs and threatening to kill the driver. At trial, the defendant was shown to have a track record of engaging in racist behavior.

Guilty Verdict: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/north-carolina-man-convicted-federal-hate-crimes-racially-motivated-attacks-against-black

Maryland | January 11, 2024 | Sexual Orientation, Gender, Gender Identity

Maryland Man Sentenced for Issuing Death Threats to LGBTQI+ Advocacy Group

A Maryland man has been sentenced to two years in prison after making death threats to members of an advocacy group for LGBTQI+ people.

According to evidence, the man sent threatening communications to Maryland and Virginia state delegates due to their support of transgender people.

In one incident, on March 2022 he responded to a Maryland state delegate’s social media post that was honoring National Trans Day of Visibility, stating that he would have her excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In a later post, after she was re-elected, he wrote, “Enjoy hell…You’re going sooner than you think.”

During another incident, in March 2023, the defendant left a voicemail for an LGBTQI+ advocacy group threatening to kill them. In the voicemail, he stated, “…we’ll cut your throats. We’ll put a bullet in your head…You’re going to kill us? We’re going to kill you 10 times more in full.”

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-sentenced-issuing-death-threats-lgbtqi-advocacy-group

Oklahoma | December 28, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Oklahoma Man Sentenced for Throwing Molotov Cocktail at Donut Shop

An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison for vandalizing and setting fire to a donut shop frequented by LGBTQI+ patrons. The man placed an anti-LGBTQI+ flyer on the building, broke the glass door with a baseball bat, and threw a Molotov cocktail inside.

The man has a prior arrest for setting fire to a restaurant that publicly supported LGBTQI+ people, but a witness failed to appear in court and the case was dismissed. He also has a history of causing disturbances and leaving anti-LGBTQI+ flyers at other businesses in the Tulsa area.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndok/pr/arsonist-sentenced-throwing-molotov-cocktail-donut-shop

New Mexico, Texas | December 21, 2023 | Gender Identity

New Mexico Man Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Threatening U.S. Congresswoman

A New Mexico man has been sentenced to a year in prison after threatening to kill an elected Texas official.

The man left a voicemail for a Texas congresswoman in which he threatened to shoot her in the face and claimed that he was part of a movement to eradicate transgender people in government. The defendant admitted he threatened her because he mistakenly believed she was transgender.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/las-cruces-man-sentenced-1-year-prison-threatening-us-congresswoman

West Virginia | December 20, 2023 | Religion

West Virginia Man Sentenced for Obstructing Tree of Life Trial

A West Virginia man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for attempting to intimidate and influence jurors and witnesses during a federal hate crimes trial.

The defendant threatened witnesses and jurors in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue case. In that case, Robert Bowers was prosecuted for carrying out the mass-shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue.

According to evidence, the man, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, admitted to making online threats via social media posts, website comments, and emails during the trial to jury members and government witnesses. The defendant selected these victims due to the actual or perceived Jewish religion of the witnesses and victims.

Sentencing : Northern District of West Virginia | West Virginia Man Sentenced for Obstructing Tree of Life Trial | United States Department of Justice

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/west-virginia-man-admits-obstructing-tree-life-trial

Detainment : https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/pr/west-virginia-man-ordered-detained-following-federal-indictment

Ohio | December 6, 2023 | National Origin

Ohio Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Federal Hate Crimes Against Haitian Nationals

After targeting and attacking Haitian immigrants because of their nationality, an Ohio man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The defendant robbed, carjacked, and assaulted at least eight people in and around Springfield, Ohio because of their national origin, targeting people he believed were from Haiti. The man recruited minors to help him attack five of the victims.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-sentenced-20-years-prison-federal-hate-crimes-against-haitian-nationals

Pennsylvania | December 4, 2023 | Disability

Former Employee of Health Care Facility Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Assaults on Residents

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime and related offenses involving numerous assaults on residents of the in-patient health care facility where he worked. The residents had a range of severe physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities, and required assistance with daily life activities.

According to evidence, the defendant, along with a co-defendant, punched and kicked residents, jumped on them, and sprayed liquid irritants into their eyes and mouths. He targeted these victims, who were nonverbal and unable to report the abuse, because of their disabilities.

The man’s co-defendant has been found guilty and sentenced to 17 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/former-employee-beaver-county-health-care-facility-sentenced-17-years-prison-following

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/former-employee-beaver-county-health-care-facility-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/former-employees-beaver-county-health-care-facility-indicted-federal-hate-crime-charges

Texas | November 29, 2023 | Religion

Texas Man Sentenced for Antisemitic Hate Crime After Seeking to Burn Down Synagogue

A Texas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting fire to Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Austin, Texas.

When the defendant pleaded guilty, he admitted to targeting the synagogue because of his hatred of Jewish people. The man also possessed journals, decals, and stickers expressing antisemitic messages.

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-antisemitic-hate-crime-after-seeking-burn-down-synagogue

Puerto Rico | November 15, 2023 | Gender Identity

Two Puerto Rican Men Sentenced for Attack on Transgender Woman

Two Puerto Rican men were sentenced to nearly three years in prison for attacking a transgender woman in February 2020.

The men were driving out together when they saw the victim standing on the side of the road and recognized her from a recent social media post. Then the defendants recorded themselves yelling threats and disparaging comments from the car. The defendants then decided to get a paintball gun, and later went back to the victim’s location. One of the defendants recorded the other one shooting the victim multiple times with the paintball gun. After the assault ended, one of the defendants shared the video recording.

The men admitted they attacked the victim because she was transgender.

Sentencing : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-puerto-rican-men-sentenced-federal-hate-crime-against-latina-transgender-woman-and

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-puerto-rican-men-plead-guilty-federal-hate-crime-against-transgender-woman-and

New Jersey | November 14, 2023 | Religion

New Jersey Man Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Threatening to Attack Synagogue

A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after he posted a manifesto online threatening to attack a synagogue and Jewish people.

According to evidence, on November 1, 2022, the defendant used social media to share a document he wrote titled, “When Swords Collide.” In the document, he admitted to targeting a synagogue, providing that “It’s in the context of an attack on Jews.” He used the document to threaten at least five people on social media.

Sentencing : https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-man-sentenced-15-months-prison-communicating-threats-attack-synagogue

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-man-admits-communicating-threats-attack-synagogue

Oregon | November 2, 2023 | Sexual Orientation, Gender

Oregon Man Sentenced for Assaulting LGBTQI+ People

An Oregon man has been sentenced to over three years in prison for attempting to run over three people with a car in Boise, Idaho. The defendant targeted LGBTQI+ people.

On October 8, 2022, the defendant was at a library in Boise and approached a transgender library employee. He called the woman a slur, punched her in the face, and threatened to stab her.

Four days later, in a public park, the defendant saw two women together and assumed they were lesbians. He shouted threats and slurs at them, then accelerated his car at them. The women jumped out of the way and the defendant hit a car.

The defendant admitted to being responsible for three other instances of anti-LGBTQI+ vandalism and violence in October 2022.

Sentencing : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-sentenced-committing-anti-lgbtqi-assaults

South Carolina | October 26, 2023 | Race, Gender

South Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Obstructing an Investigation into the Murder of a Black Transgender Woman

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty to obstructing an investigation into a 2019 murder of a Black transgender woman.

The defendant hid that he had used his cell phone to call and text the victim on the day she was killed. He also lied about seeing the person who allegedly killed the victim on the morning of the attack.

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-carolina-man-pleads-guilty-obstructing-justice-murder-black-transgender-woman

California | October 26, 2023 | Race, National Origin

California Man Who Drove His Car Into a ‘Stop Asian Hate’ Rally Pleads Guilty

A California man has pleaded guilty to civil rights charges for disrupting a “Stop Asian hate” rally in March 2021.

According to evidence, the defendant drove through the peaceful rally yelling, “Go back to China!” and other racial slurs at the demonstrators. Then the defendant intentionally drove through a crosswalk, narrowly missing a group of demonstrators, including a 9-year-old child.

The defendant got out of the car and continued to yell racial epithets and threats at the demonstrators. He called the police, identifying himself as “John Doe,” and falsely reported that rally participants were “about to trample [his] car.” He also requested that police “get some control out” at the intersection. The defendant’s actions were motivated by the race of rally attendees.

The defendant faces up to one year in prison.

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/diamond-bar-man-pleads-guilty-civil-rights-charge-driving-his-car-crowd-demonstrators

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/diamond-bar-man-arrested-indictment-charging-him-using-his-car-intimidate-demonstrators

Montana | October 20, 2023 | Race

Montana Man Sentenced to 18 months in Prison for Making Racially-Motivated Harassing calls to African American Woman

A Montana man has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for making racially motivated harassing calls to a Black woman employed at a Billings church.

According to evidence, in November 2020, the man had gone to the church asking for money and the victim gave him a gift card. For almost two years, the defendant called the victim and church and left threatening voicemails stating his hatred for the victim and Black people.

The defendant made similar threatening and racially motivated calls to Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the southern US.

Sentencing : https://www.justice.gov/usao-mt/pr/man-sentenced-18-months-prison-making-racially-motivated-harassing-calls-african

Florida | October 19, 2023 | Race

Florida Man Sentenced for Racially-Motivated Attack Against Six Black Men Near 1923 Rosewood Massacre Site

A Florida man was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and two years of supervised release for a bias-motivated attack on six Black men.

According to evidence, in September 2022, the defendant drove his truck towards the group of six Black men because of their race. The men were surveying land along a public road near the location of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre when the attack took place. The defendant shouted racial slurs at the victims while almost hitting them with his truck.

Sentencing : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-sentenced-racially-motivated-attack-against-six-black-men-near-1923-rosewood

Washington | October 16, 2023 | Race

Washington Man Charged with Hate Crime for Threatening Federal Worker due to Worker’s Race

A Washington man has been charged with a hate crime for threatening a federal employee at a Social Security office in Olympia, Washington.

In February of 2023, the defendant became angry with a Black federal employee for telling him that he did not have the proper paperwork for a replacement Social Security card. The defendant was angry, used racial slurs, and threatened to assault or kill the employee.

The defendant faces up to 10 years in person, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Arraignment : https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/south-sound-resident-charged-hate-crime-threatening-federal-worker-due-workers-race

Indiana | October 6, 2023 | Religion

Indiana Man Indicted for Sending Violent, Antisemitic Threats to Four Offices of the Anti-Defamation League

An Indiana man has been charged with a hate crime for sending threatening communications to Anti-Defamation League offices around the US.

According to the indictment, the defendant left voicemails threatening to kill Jewish people at Anti-Defamation League offices. The defendant chose his victims because of their actual or perceived religion.

If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Indictment : https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/indiana-man-indicted-sending-violent-anti-semitic-threats-four-offices-anti-defamation

Washington | October 3, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Washington Man Sentenced for Hate Crime Targeting LGBTQI+ Community at Seattle Nightclub

A Washington man was sentenced to four years in prison for his hate-motivated arson of a nightclub and event space where the LGBTQI+ community gathers called Queer/Bar.

According to the plea, the man set fire to a dumpster in the alley behind Queer/Bar on Feb. 24, 2020. After he was arrested, he admitted to police officers that he set the fire and targeted Queer/Bar because it angered him to see a sign that said “queer.” He also told officers, “I think it’s wrong that we have a bunch of queers in our society.” A few weeks after the incident, the defendant told a stranger that his intent in setting the fire was to trap and hurt the people inside.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-sentenced-hate-crime-targeting-lgbtqi-community-seattle-nightclub

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-pleads-guilty-committing-hate-crime-arson-seattle-nightclub

Texas | September 14, 2023 | Religion

Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges

A Texas man has pleaded guilty to five hate crimes for killing one person and attempting to kill four others because of their religious beliefs.

According to evidence, the defendant went to a car repair shop, made anti-Muslim statements, and pledged he would return to the business. A few days later, on December 24, 2015, the defendant asked customers if they were Muslim and opened fire. That day he shot and killed one person and attempted to kill three other people. As he was leaving, he attempted to kill a fourth person with his vehicle.

The defendant faces up to 37 years in prison.

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-charges

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-indicted-hate-crime-shooting

Maine | September 12, 2023 | Race

Maine Man Arrested for Racially Motivated Death Threats Against Black Neighbor

A Maine man has been charged for sending a threatening voicemail to his Black neighbor.

According to evidence, the defendant left a voicemail for his neighbor that used racial slurs and threatened to kill any Black person who emerged from their home. The defendant targeted his neighbor because of the neighbor’s race.

The man could face up to five years in prison.

Arrest: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maine-man-arrested-racially-motivated-death-threats-against-black-neighbor

Maryland | August 30, 2023 | Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity

Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Issuing Threats of Violence to an LGBTQI+ Advocacy Group

A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to using a phone to threaten a group that advocates for LGBTQI+ rights.

In March of 2023, the victim organization received a voicemail from the defendant who referenced a mass-shooting event where the shooter was a transgender woman. In the voicemail the man threated to kill the workers of the advocacy group. The defendant targeted the advocacy group because of their actual and perceived gender identity and sexual orientation.

According to evidence, the defendant had also sent messages via email to two state delegates who had voiced support for LGBTQI+ advocacy. He threatened physical violence and even death in those messages.

He faces up to five years in prison.

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-pleads-guilty-issuing-threats-violence-lgbtqi-advocacy-group

South Carolina | August 23, 2023 | National Origin, Race

South Carolina Man and Woman Plead Guilty to Hate Crime and Conspiracy for Bias-Motivated Armed Robberies Targeting Hispanic Victims

A South Carolina man and woman pleaded guilty to a hate crime and other charges.

The man and woman followed their victims home from public places like the grocery store and gas station and robbed them at gunpoint. They targeted their victims because of their race and nationality.

According to the plea agreements, both defendants must pay restitution to the victims.

Guilty Plea : https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-carolina-man-and-woman-plead-guilty-hate-crime-and-conspiracy-bias-motivated-armed

Oklahoma | August 16, 2023 | Race

Two Oklahoma Men Sentenced to Prison for Attacks on a Black Man

Two Oklahoma men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 6 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for a racially motivated attack in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The two men must also pay the victim restitution, money to cover medical or other expenses, amounting to $113,644.40.

On Jan. 18, 2022, a grand jury charged the defendants with physically assaulting a Black man because of his race, as well as his white friend, in the parking lot of the Brickhouse Saloon in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdok/pr/second-oklahoma-man-sentenced-federal-prison-role-racially-motivated-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oklahoma-man-sentenced-racially-motivated-hate-crime-against-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-oklahoma-men-plead-guilty-racially-motivated-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-oklahoma-men-indicted-hate-crimes

Utah | August 8, 2023 | Race, National Origin

Utah Man Sentenced for Hate-Motivated Attack on Three Men with a Metal Pole

A Utah man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attacking three men with a metal pole he believed to be Mexican.

On November 27, 2018, the man entered a tire store and shouted at employees there that he wanted to “kill Mexicans.” Then he began attacking the employees with a metal pole, striking the first victim, a teenager, in the head, resulting in a serious injury. After the father of the victim, the business owner, rushed to help his son, the attacker struck him several times with the metal pole. The business owner’s brother rushed to intervene. The attacker threatened him, but he was not injured in the attack.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/utah-man-sentenced-hate-crime-attack-three-men

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/utah-man-charged-hate-crimes-attacking-three-men-metal-pole

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/utah-man-convicted-hate-crime-charges-after-attacking-three-men-metal-pole

Pennsylvania | August 2, 2023 | Religion

Shooter Receives Death Sentence for Attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue

After two months of trial, a federal jury in Pittsburgh unanimously recommended that a Pennsylvania man be sentenced to death for killing 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, critically wounding seven others, including five responding police officers.

On October 27, 2018, the assailant entered the Tree of Life Synagogue during worship with multiple firearms and stated his desire to “kill Jews.” He shot and killed 11 congregants, injuring two other members of the congregation and five law enforcement officers. Evidence showed that the defendant meticulously planned his attack based on his violently antisemitic beliefs, reflected in dozens of online posts.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/jury-recommends-sentence-death-pennsylvania-man-convicted-tree-life-synagogue-shooting

Additional Charges Filed: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/additional-charges-filed-tree-life-synagogue-shooting-0

Missouri | August 2, 2023 | Religion

Missouri Man Sentenced for Setting Fire to Islamic Center

A Missouri man was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, in addition to owing $551,217.91 in damages, for hate crime and arson violations after pleading guilty to burning down the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

On April 24, 2020, the first morning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at about 4:50 a.m., the defendant set fire to the Islamic Center at 298 Northwest End Boulevard, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Video showed him throwing multiple objects through the building’s glass window, causing it to break. He poured the contents of two gallon-sized containers throughout the foyer and down the hallway and then lit two fires that immediately spread through the inside of the building.

The Islamic Center suffered severe damage that rendered it unsuitable for use as a religious center. The defendant admitted that he set the fire because of the religious character of the building.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-sentenced-setting-fire-islamic-center

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-and-arson-charges-burning-down-islamic-center

Florida | July 27, 2023 | Race

Florida Man Found Guilty in Racially Motivated Attack Near 1923 Rosewood Massacre Site

A jury in Gainesville, Florida, convicted a Florida man for hate crimes after his racially motivated attack on a group of Black men surveying property along a public road in Rosewood, Florida. The property is near the location of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre, an infamous racially motivated attack on a prospering Black community that destroyed a thriving town.

On Sept. 6, 2022, the defendant noticed the victims surveying land near a public roadway. When the defendant came upon the victims, who were on the public roadway, he shouted racial slurs and expletives at them, including “[racial slur] get out of these woods,” before driving a pickup truck directly at the group, nearly striking one of them. At trial, one witness testified that the defendant admitted that he “came at those [expletives],” and that he “would have [expletive]d up all those Black [expletive]. Video evidence showed that after he was arrested, the defendant complained that he was “getting treated like this [expletive] over a [expletive] [racial slur].” Although no victims suffered from physical injuries, one witness testified that the defendant came “within inches” of striking one of the victims and that one victim, “nearly lost his life that day.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-found-guilty-federal-hate-crimes-racially-motivated-attack-against-six-black-men

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-racially-motivated-attack-against-group-black-men

Kentucky | July 27, 2023 | Race

Kentucky Woman Sentenced for Mailing Threats to Neighbors Because of Their Race

A Kentucky woman was sentenced to nine years in prison for mailing threats to her neighbors in 2020 because of their race.

The woman sent multiple threatening letters to an interracial couple and their children, who lived in the same neighborhood. Many of these letters contained violent threats and racial slurs.

At trial, the jury found that the threatening letters were sent to the defendant’s neighbors because of their race.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kentucky-woman-sentenced-mailing-threatening-communications-neighbors-because-their-race

Alaska | July 25, 2023 | Religion, National Origin, Sexual Orientation, Gender

Alaska Man Sentenced to 18 Months for Hate Crimes, Drug Trafficking

An Anchorage man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for hate-motivated vandalism and a drug trafficking offense.

In May 2021, the defendant placed stickers with a swastika and the text “WE ARE EVERYWHERE” at eight locations around Anchorage, including the Alaska Jewish Museum, the University of Alaska Anchorage campus, and a site associated with the LGBTQI+ community. In September, he returned to the Alaska Jewish Museum, where he placed another sticker and carved a swastika into the door.

During the investigation, investigators discovered that the defendant used social media to traffic drugs. Federal agents searched the defendant’s residence and recovered drugs, firearms, and Nazi-inspired imagery, including a box of swastika stickers.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/alaska-man-sentenced-18-months-hate-crimes-drug-trafficking

Wisconsin | July 24, 2023 | Race

Wisconsin Man Sentenced for Making Racially Charged Threats Against Black Neighbors

A Wisconsin man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for threatening his Black neighbors because of their race.

In March 2021, the defendant vandalized a Black woman’s vehicle parked outside her apartment by slashing her tires and smashing her windshield. He left a note on her car filled with racial slurs, threatened to slash her throat, and demanded she move out. A week later, he slashed her tires again, left another note filled with racial slurs, and gave her an ultimatum – move out of the neighborhood or suffer violence.

In April 2022, a Black woman and her two children moved into the defendant’s apartment complex. The defendant vandalized her front door with racial graffiti and left her a note calling her family by a racial slur and demanding that she leave the building.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wisconsin-man-sentenced-making-racially-charged-threats-against-black-residents

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wisconsin-man-pleads-guilty-making-racially-charged-threats-toward-black-residents

Florida | July 7, 2023 | Race

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Racially Motivated Hate Crimes

A Florida man faces up to 20 years in prison for racially motivated attacks on two Black women.

On September 10, 2022, the defendant directed racial slurs at the clerk of a convenience store after his credit card was declined. The defendant left the store with unpaid merchandise, retrieved a shotgun from his car, pointed it at the clerk, and cocked it, using racial slurs throughout the encounter. The victim ran away in fear for her life.

Two days later, the defendant approached a woman resting on the seat of her walker in the sidewalk. He used racial slurs, told her that she could not sit there, and threatened to kill her. Then he retrieved his shotgun and fired a single shot.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crimes-racially-motivated-attacks-two-black-women

Texas | July 7, 2023 | Race, Ethnicity, National Origin

Texas Man Sentenced for 2019 Mass Shooting in El Paso, Texas

A Texas man was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in prison for carrying out a mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3, 2019, killing 23 people and injuring 22 more.

The defendant admitted that he killed and wounded people at the Walmart because of the national origin of the people he expected to be at the Walmart. He also admitted that he intended to kill everyone he shot.

The defendant wrote a manifesto and uploaded it to social media minutes before he launched his attack. In it, he characterized himself as a white nationalist, motivated to kill Hispanics because they were immigrating to the United States. He admitted selecting El Paso, a border city, as his target to stop Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants from coming to the United States.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-90-consecutive-life-sentences-2019-mass-shooting-walmart-el-paso-texas

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/federal-grand-jury-el-paso-returns-superseding-indictment-against-patrick-crusius

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-90-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearms-violations-august-2019-mass

Video of Press Conference: https://www.justice.gov/opa/video/texas-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearm-offenses-related-august-3-2019-mass

Remarks from Civil Rights Division: https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/remarks-assistant-attorney-general-eric-dreiband-announcing-united-states-v-patrick-wood

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/texas-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearm-offenses-related-august-3-2019-mass

Michigan | June 28, 2023 | Religion, Race, Ethnicity

Michigan Man Charged with Threatening Violent Antisemitic Actions

A Michigan man was charged with making violent threats online.

According to evidence, the defendant used social media to plan acts of violence. He allegedly sent Antisemitic messages glorifying Nazis and past mass shooters, expressing his intent to mimic them.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmi/pr/2023_0628_Pietila_Indictment

Kansas, Tennessee | June 20, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Kansas Man Charged with Threatening Violence Against Nashville Pride Event

A Kansas man was charged with two hate crimes for threatening to attack a Nashville Pride event.

According to the charges, on April 26, 2023, the defendant posted comments on the social media account for Nashville Pride threatening to “make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event.” In another comment posted the same day, the defendant threatened to “commit a mass shooting.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/pr/kansas-man-facing-federal-charges-making-online-threats-toward-nashville-pride-event

Idaho, Oregon | June 15, 2023 | Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity

Oregon Man Pleads Guilty for Attacks on Local LBGTQI+ Community

An Oregon man faces up to 45 months in prison after pleading guilty to two federal hate crimes.

On October 8, 2022, the defendant approached a transgender employee of the Boise Public Library, called her a slur, punched her, and threatened to stab her. He then drove his car at a security guard who was attempting to speak with him.

Four days later, while sitting in his car in a public parking lot, the defendant saw two women walking together toward another vehicle. Assuming that the women were lesbians, he began shouting threats and slurs at them, then suddenly accelerated his car toward the women, intending to collide with them. The women jumped out of the path of the oncoming car, which struck another vehicle.

As part of his plea agreement, the defendant also admitted that he was responsible for three other instances of anti-LGBTQI+ vandalism and violence in Boise in early October 2022.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-charges-bias-motivated-attacks-boise

Montana | June 14, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Montana Man Sentenced for Attacks on Local LGBTQI+ Community

A Montana man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a series of hate-motivated attacks in Basin, Montana.

The defendant made it his mission to rid the town of Basin, Montana, of its lesbian and gay community. Armed with a rifle and other weapons, he approached the house of a woman that he knew identified as lesbian, firing several rounds into the property. The woman was home, but not hit.

Assuming the first victim was dead, the defendant approached other homes of people known locally to be gay or lesbian. He walked past a church that was letting out and was approached by several people who knew him and tried to intervene, including a pastor who was wearing a device to record his sermons. While the device was recording, the defendant admitted to the initial attack and described his intent to rid Basin of LGBTQI+ people.

He shot several more rounds at people in the vicinity before fleeing when law enforcement arrived. He was arrested the next day.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-sentenced-federal-hate-and-firearms-crimes-shooting-intended-kill-and-rid-town

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-convicted-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearms-charges-shooting-intended-rid

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/montana-man-indicted-federal-hate-crime-and-firearm-charges-0

Kansas | May 30, 2023 | Race

Kansas Man Charged for Using Guns, Death Threats, and Racial Slurs to Intimidate Black People

A grand jury charged a Kansas man with using death threats and racial slurs to intimidate Black people.

According to the charges, on July 27, 2022, the defendant showed a firearm and threatened two Black juveniles using racial slurs. Then, he threatened a Black adult with his firearm after they intervened.

From January to August 2022, the defendant told a white woman that he would hurt or kill any Black people who visited her home. He would occasionally stand outside her house and shout threats and racial slurs when he believed the woman had Black visitors. He is also charged with posting threatening videos and messages to the social media accounts of the victim’s family.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-indicted-using-guns-death-threats-and-racial-slurs-intimidate-black-people

Nevada | May 11, 2023 | National Origin, Religion

Nevada Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church Shooting

A Nevada man has been charged with hate crimes for the shooting and attempted bombing of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church.

According to the charges, on May 15, 2022, the defendant carried firearms into the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church to kill its congregants. Once inside, he shot and killed one person and attempted to kill 44 others. Five congregants were also injured by gunfire. The defendant allegedly targeted the church because of the congregants’ national origin and religion.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nevada-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-irvine-taiwanese-presbyterian-church-shooting

Minnesota | May 5, 2023 | Religion

Minnesota Man Charged in Mosque Arson

A grand jury charged a Minnesota man for setting fire to a mosque.

According to the charges, on April 23, 2023, the defendant started a fire in the bathroom of the Masjid Omar Islamic Center. The next day, surveillance video captured the defendant returning to the mosque. Soon after his arrival, a much larger fire broke out on the third floor of the mosque causing significant damage and forcing dozens of people to evacuate.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/minnesota-man-indicted-mosque-arson

Colorado | May 4, 2023 | Religion

Colorado Man Pleads Guilty to Church Arson

A Colorado man pleaded guilty to a hate crime charge in connection with a church fire he set in Loveland, Colorado. The defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to the evidence, the defendant set the church on fire during the evening of January 19, 2023, by throwing two Molotov cocktails at the church – one at the front door and the other at the basement. The defendant admitted that he was motivated by the religious nature of the church and intended to destroy the church.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/colorado-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-church-arson

Ohio | April 26, 2023 | Religion

Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Setting Fire to a Church

An Ohio man pleaded guilty to setting fire to a church, and now faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to evidence, the defendant broke into the Mount Zion Church in Baltimore, Ohio, on November 27, 2021, and spread an accelerant before setting the church on fire, which resulted in significant damage. During the hearing, the defendant admitted that he intentionally set the fire because of the religious character of the church.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-setting-fire-church

Ohio | April 24, 2023 | Religion, Sexual Orientation

Ohio Man Charged for Attempting to Burn Down a Church that Planned to Host Drag Shows

An Ohio man was charged with using Molotov cocktails to burn a church in Chesterfield, Ohio that planned to host drag shows.

According to the charges, the defendant attempted to set fire to the church after learning that the church would be holding multiple drag show events the following weekend.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-charged-attempting-burn-down-church-planned-host-drag-show-events

Indiana | April 20, 2023 | Race, National Origin

Indiana Woman Charged in Racially Motivated Attack

A grand jury charged an Indiana woman with a hate crime for a racially motivated attack on a woman of Chinese descent.

According to the indictment, on January 11, 2023, the defendant attacked the victim with a knife because of the victim’s race and national origin and injured her. The indictment also alleges that that the defendant attempted to kill the victim.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/indiana-woman-charged-federal-hate-crime-racially-motivated-attack-against-woman-chinese

Missouri | April 20, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Missouri Man Sentenced for Hate Crime in Attempted Murder of Teen

A Missouri man was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison without parole after pleading guilty for attempting to murder a teenager because of his sexual orientation.

According to the plea, after a chance meeting at the Kansas City Public Library on May 29, 2019, the defendant and victim talked briefly over Facebook Messenger. The defendant then went with the victim to the Swope Park area under the guise of looking for a place to engage in a sex act. Around the same time, the defendant wrote to his girlfriend that he “might shoot this boy” because of his sexual orientation. After arriving at a secluded area with the victim, the defendant shot the victim eight times.

The defendant fled from the woods toward his apartment and tried to avoid detection or arrest. Later that day, and in the days that followed, he told people that he shot the victim because of his sexual orientation.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-sentenced-hate-crime-attempted-murder-teen-because-his-sexual-orientation

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-city-missouri-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-attempted-murder-teen

California, Massachusetts, New York | April 14, 2023 | Sexual Orientation, Gender, Gender Identity

California Man Sentenced for Threatening Merriam-Webster with Anti-LGBTQ Violence

A judge sentenced a Californian man to more than a year in prison for making anti-LGBTQ+ threats against the dictionary company Merriam-Webster, Inc., and others.

Between October 2 and October 8, 2021, the defendant made a series of threatening messages and comments. Some of the threats were about the word entries for “Girl” and “Woman”, and the defendant sent comments through the website threatening to bomb Merriam-Webster’s offices. These threats led Merriam-Webster to temporarily close its offices in Springfield, Massachusetts and New York City, New York.

The same online user made similar threats to others, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Land O’ Lakes, Hasbro, Inc., IGN Entertainment, the President of the University of North Texas, two professors at Loyola Marymount University, and a New York rabbi.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-sentenced-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-pleads-guilty-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-accused-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence-indicted

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-arrested-and-charged-making-threats-against-lgbtq-community

Texas | April 7, 2023 | Religion

Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime and Arson for Setting Fire to Synagogue

A Texas man pleaded guilty to a hate crime and arson for setting fire to a synagogue. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

On October 31, 2021, the defendant was spotted on a surveillance video carrying a five-gallon container and toilet paper toward the synagogue. Moments later, a fire broke out. A security camera recorded the defendant jogging away from the fire. The defendant admitted that he targeted the synagogue because of his hatred of Jews, and kept a journal filled with antisemitic statements.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-and-arson-setting-fire-synagogue

Maryland | April 4, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Howard County Man Facing Charges for Allegedly Threatening an LGBTQI+ Advocacy Group

A Maryland man was charged with a hate crime for using a telephone to threaten an LGBTQI+ advocacy group.

According to the charges, on the evening of March 28, 2023, the organization received a voicemail saying “…We’ll cut your throats. We’ll put a bullet in your head.” Investigators discovered that the voicemail was left by a phone number belonging to the defendant.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/howard-county-man-facing-federal-charges-allegedly-making-threatening-phone-call-lgbtq

Georgia | March 16, 2023 | Race, National Origin

Georgia White Supremacist Sentenced for Federal Racially Motivated Shootings

A judge sentenced a Georgia man to 20 years in prison for shooting into two Clayton County convenience stores and attempting to kill the people inside because of their race.

According to evidence, the defendant first fired his pistol into a Shell gas station convenience store. Minutes later, he fired into a nearby BP gas station convenience store. No one was injured in either shooting.

The defendant admitted that he was targeting Black people and others he thought were Arab, and he hoped to kill them. He also admitted to believing in a white supremacist ideology.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/georgia-white-supremacist-sentenced-federal-hate-crime-racially-motivated-shootings

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/georgia-man-ties-white-supremacist-organization-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-racially

Michigan, Texas | March 9, 2023 | Religion

Michigan Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Jewish Government Officials

A grand jury charged a Michigan man for threatening to kill Jewish people who work in the Michigan government using Twitter.

According to the charges, on February 17, 2023, the defendant tweeted a series of threats while in Texas, including “I’m heading back to Michigan now threatening to carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is jewish in the Michigan govt if they don’t leave, or confess.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/michigan-resident-indicted-hate-crime-threatening-kill-jewish-government-officials

Mississippi | March 9, 2023 | Religion

Mississippi Man Sentenced for Cross Burning

A judge sentenced a Mississippi man to more than three years in prison after the man pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and arson charges.

According to the plea, on December 3, 2020, the defendant made racial slurs toward his Black neighbors, then burned a cross near their property to intimidate them.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-sentenced-federal-hate-crime-cross-burning

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-cross-burning

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-cross-burning

New York | March 3, 2023 | Religion, National Origin

New York Man Sentenced For Antisemitic Hate Crimes

A New York man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for conspiring to attack New Yorkers because of their actual or perceived Jewish or Israeli identity.

According to evidence, the defendant conspired with others to commit Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City. On three separate occasions, the defendant assaulted people who were wearing religious clothing or items associated with Judaism or Israel.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/staten-island-man-sentenced-18-months-prison-conspiracy-commit-antisemitic-hate-crimes

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/antisemitic-assailant-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-commit-hate-crimes

Hawaii | March 3, 2023 | Race

Two Maui Men Sentenced for Racially Motivated Attack on White Man

A judge sentenced two Hawaiian men to more than four years in prison for their racially motivated attacks on a white man who was moving into Kahakuloa Village.

At trial, evidence showed the victim was harassed and threatened by other residents of Kahakuloa Village. On February 13, 2014, while unpacking in his new home, the defendants stormed onto his property and demanded that he pack his things and leave. When the victim declined, one of the defendants threatened the victim and hit him in the head with a shovel. Later, as the victim began packing up his possessions to leave, the defendants attacked him a second time.

During the second attack, the defendants hit the victim in the head again, and the victim became unconscious. When he came to, the attackers were kicking him in the side—kicks that broke two of his ribs. During the second attack, one of the defendants said, “no white man is ever going to live here.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/two-maui-men-sentenced-racially-motivated-attack-white-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-maui-men-convicted-hate-crimes-racially-motivated-attack-white-man

California | March 3, 2023 | Religion

California Man Charged for Allegedly Shooting Two Men Leaving Synagogues in Los Angeles

A federal grand jury charged a California man with two hate crimes for allegedly shooting two Jewish men as they left synagogues in Los Angeles.

According to the charges, the defendant shot the first victim as they were leaving services at a synagogue. The next day, the defendant shot another victim who was leaving services at a different synagogue in the same Los Angeles neighborhood.

Evidence indicates that the defendant held antisemitic beliefs. The defendant allegedly obtained two firearms before the attacks and targeted a predominately Jewish neighborhood after searching a popular business-review app for a kosher market in the Pico-Robertson district of Los Angeles.

These are serious allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/man-who-allegedly-shot-two-jewish-victims-leaving-los-angeles-synagogues-indicted

Maryland | February 6, 2023 | Race

Maryland Woman and Florida Man Charged with Conspiring to Destroy Energy Facilities

A Maryland woman and a Florida man have been charged with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility, allegedly driven by their ideology of racially-motivated hatred. The two defendants schemed to attack local power grid facilities.

The defendants each face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

These are serious allegations. But the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/federal-indictment-returned-charging-maryland-woman-and-florida-man-conspiring-destroy

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/maryland-woman-and-florida-man-face-federal-charges-conspiring-destroy-energy-facilities

District of Columbia | February 2, 2023 | Race, Gender

District Man Found Guilty of Hate Crime in Bias-Related Assault

A District man has been found guilty on charges stemming from a hate crime in which he spit in the face of a female neighbor in Southwest Washington.

According to evidence, on July 20, 2020, at approximately 2 p.m., the victim, a Black woman, was walking her service dog and crossing the exit ramp of her apartment complex. The defendant drove his SUV up the exit ramp at a high rate of speed, almost hitting the victim and her dog. After the victim told him to be careful, he began screaming racist and sexist epithets.

The man spit into the victim’s face, and drove away. He was arrested 23 days later after being identified. The man had a history of racist tirades against his Black neighbors.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-man-found-guilty-bias-related-assault-african-american-woman

New Jersey | February 1, 2023 | Religion

Passaic County Man Arrested for Attempt to Firebomb Synagogue

A man in New Jersey allegedly went to a synagogue in the middle of the night and maliciously attempted to damage and destroy it using a firebomb.

Surveillance footage shows the defendant walking up to the Temple Ner Tamid Jewish Congregation in Bloomfield, New Jersey and igniting a wick on the top of a bottle. He then threw the bottle at the front glass doors of the temple and fled on foot.

The defendant has been charged with one count of attempted use of fire to damage and destroy a building used in interstate commerce. He faces a up to 20 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/passaic-county-man-arrested-attempt-firebomb-synagogue

South Carolina | February 1, 2023 | Gender Identity

Two Men Charged with Hate Crimes and Obstruction in the Murder of Transgender Woman

Two South Carolina men have been charged with hate crimes for the murder of a transgender woman because of her gender identity.

According to the charges, one of the defendants shot the victim because of her gender identity and then both men lied to authorities about where they were on the night of the murder.

These are serious allegations. But the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/man-charged-hate-crime-and-obstruction-and-second-man-charged-obstruction-offenses

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-charged-hate-crime-and-obstruction-and-second-man-charged-obstruction-offenses-following

Idaho, Oregon, Washington | January 30, 2023 | Race, Ethnicity

Four Men Sentenced for Hate Crime and False Statement Charges After Racially-Motivated Assault

Four men have pleaded guilty to hate crime and false statement charges in Washington for assaulting a Black man because of his race. The defendants were members of various white supremacist groups.

On Dec. 8, 2018, the four men entered a bar in Lynnwood, Washington. The men repeatedly gave “Nazi salutes” once inside the bar. After the DJ, a Black man, objected to the men touching his DJ equipment, the defendants attacked him while shouting racial slurs. Bystanders, who attempted to intervene, were also assaulted.

The hate crime carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-washington-state-men-sentenced-hate-crime-and-false-statement-charges-after-racially

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/idaho-white-supremacist-who-assaulted-black-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-and-false-statement

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-white-supremacist-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-and-false-statement-charges-connection

Louisiana | January 25, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Louisiana Man Sentenced to 45 Years for Kidnapping and Attempting to Murder a Gay Man

A Louisiana man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for kidnapping and attempting to murder a gay man as part of a months-long scheme to kidnap and murder gay men.

According to evidence, the defendant attempted to kidnap one man and successfully kidnapped two other men using Grindr, an online dating application for gay and bisexual men. The defendant attempted to murder one of the men, intending to dismember and keep the victim’s body parts.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-sentenced-45-years-kidnapping-and-attempting-murder-gay-man-part-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-indicted-attempted-murder-gay-man-and-plot-kidnap-and-murder-other-gay-men

Florida | January 25, 2023 | Race

Two Florida Men Sentenced for Hate Crime Following Racially-Motivated Assault

Two Florida men were sentenced for hate crime charges in connection with their racially-motivated attack against a Black man in Citrus Springs.

According to the plea, on Nov. 17, 2021, the two men traveled to the Family Dollar in Citrus Springs, where the victim, a Black man, was shopping inside. The two men targeted the victim with racial slurs. They followed the victim into the parking lot where they attacked him with an axe handle.

Both men directed racial slurs towards the victim before, during, and after the attack.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-florida-men-sentenced-racially-motivated-hate-crime-following-violent-assault-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/second-florida-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-racially-motivated-attack-black-man-using

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-florida-men-charged-federal-hate-crime-violently-attacking-black-man-while-shouting

Idaho | January 12, 2023 | Sexual Orientation

Idaho Man Indicted for Federal Hate Crime Against LGBTQ Residents of Boise

A man in Idaho has been charged with a hate crime after attempting to hit two people with his car. Allegedly, the defendant targeted the two victims because of their actual and perceived sexual orientation.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

An indictment is a serious accusation. But the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/idaho-man-indicted-federal-hate-crime-against-lgbtq-residents-boise

Case Examples from 2022-2019

Washington | December 16, 2022 | Race

Washington Man Sentenced for Making Threatening Phone Calls to Businesses in Four States

A Washington man was sentenced in federal court to two years in prison after pleading guilty to making threatening phone calls to businesses in four states.

The man called grocery stores in Buffalo, New York, and threatened to shoot Black people in the stores. He told staff at the stores to “take him seriously,” and ordered the store to clear out the customers, as he was “nearby” and “preparing to shoot all Black customers.” One store closed. The threats followed a racially-motivated shooting at another Buffalo grocery store in May. Law enforcement traced the phone number and identified the person who made the call.

The man had placed similar threatening calls to business in other states. He told law enforcement that he made the threats to strike fear in the Black community.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/lynnwood-washington-man-sentenced-prison-making-multiple-threatening-phone-calls

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-pleads-guilty-making-interstate-threats-and-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/lynnwood-washington-man-arrested-allegedly-making-interstate-threats-racially-motivated

District of Columbia | December 16, 2022 | Race, National Origin

District Man Pleads Guilty Mid-Trial to Hate Crimes Charges

A District man pleaded guilty today, mid-trial, to charges stemming from two assaults.

According to the plea, the defendant assaulted the first victim on May 15, 2022, at the Dupont Circle Metro Station. During this assault, he targeted the victim, hit the victim with a metal object, and then made derogatory statements about the victim’s ethnicity.

The second assault took place on May 22, 2022, when the defendant targeted another victim inside of a Metro Station, kicked the victim in the back while descending the escalator, followed the victim throughout the station, and assaulted the victim again, all the while making derogatory comments directed at the victim’s race and ethnicity.

When he was arrested, the defendant made a number of racist and xenophobic statements.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-man-pleads-guilty-mid-trial-hate-crimes-charges

Massachusetts | December 15, 2022 | Gender Identity

Texas Man Indicted for Threatening Doctor with the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center

A federal grand jury indicted a Texas man for threatening a Boston doctor because the doctor provided care for members of the transgender community.

The government alleges that misinformation spread online about procedures at Boston Children’s Hospital for gender nonconforming children. The defendant called the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center in Boston, and left a threatening voicemail targeting one of the Center’s doctors.

The defendant faces a sentence of up to five years of prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/texas-man-indicted-threatening-doctor-affiliated-national-lgbtqia-health-education

Washington | December 14, 2022 | Religion

Washington Man Indicted for Arsons at Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls

A federal grand jury indicted a Washington man for three arsons that damaged or destroyed Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls in Washington State.

The government alleges that the defendant set fire to Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls on three occasions in 2018 because of the religious nature of the properties. The Kingdom Halls were defaced, damaged, and destroyed through arsons.

The defendant was charged before with damage to religious property and use of a firearm in connection with a shooting that damaged a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Yelm, Washington.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/olympia-washington-man-indicted-hate-crimes-arsons-jehovah-s-witness-kingdom-halls

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-charged-hate-crime-shooting-and-damaging-jehovah-s-witness-kingdom-hall

Michigan | December 13, 2022 | Race

Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crimes for Threats Against Black Lives Matter Supporters

A Michigan man pleaded guilty to two hate crimes for attempting to intimidate people from engaging in lawful speech and protests supporting Black Lives Matter.

According to the evidence, the defendant called nine Starbucks stores in Michigan and told the employees answering his calls to relay racial threats to Starbucks employees wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts. He also threatened to kill Black people, using racial slurs to refer to his targets.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to placing a noose inside the vehicle of two of the victims. He attached a handwritten note to the noose: “An accessory to be worn with your ‘BLM’ t-shirt. Happy protesting!”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/michigan-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crimes-death-threats-targeting-black-lives-matter-supporters

Florida | November 7, 2022 | Race

Florida Man Sentenced for Racially-Motivated Hate Crime

A federal court sentenced a Florida man to 24 months in prison for attacking a Black man who was driving with his family in Seminole, Florida.

According to evidence, the defendant shouted racial slurs at the victim and sideswiped his car while attempting to force the car off the road. The victim’s girlfriend and four-year-old daughter were in the car at the time.

When officers from the Pinellas County Sherriff’s Office arrived on the scene, the defendant made numerous statements evidencing his bias motive, telling the officers that Black people need to be kept “in their areas.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-sentenced-racially-motivated-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-found-guilty-hate-crime-racially-motivated-attack-against-black-man-driving-his

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-charged-hate-crimes-following-use-vehicle-racially-motivated-attack-against-black

Ohio | November 3, 2022 | Race

Ohio Man Charged with Hate Crime for Assaulting Asian Student

A Cincinnati man has been charged with a federal hate crime for physically assaulting a student.

According to evidence, on August 17, 2021, the defendant attacked an Asian American student on Calhoun Street at the University of Cincinnati. He allegedly made racist comments, including, “Go back to your country…You brought the kung flu here…You’re going to die for bringing it.” After making the threats, the defendant allegedly punched the victim causing multiple injuries, including a concussion and cuts on their face. Two witnesses intervened and one held the defendant down until law enforcement arrived.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/cincinnati-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-physically-assaulting-asian-american-student

Texas | October 19, 2022 | Religion

Texas Man Indicted for Hate Crimes in Shooting at Muslim-Owned Business

A federal grand jury indicted a Texas man for killing one person and attempting to kill four others during an attack at Omar’s Wheels and Tires , a Muslim-owned business, because of their religious beliefs.

According to evidence, the defendant went to Omar’s Wheels and Tires on December 24, 2015, shot and killed one person and attempted to kill three other people. As he was leaving, he attempted to kill a fourth person with his vehicle.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-indicted-hate-crime-shooting

Ohio | October 11, 2022 | Gender

Ohio Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Conduct Mass Shooting of Women

An Ohio man pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime, which, because it involved an attempt to kill, is punishable by up to life in prison.

The man had plotted to shoot sorority students at a university in Ohio, identifying himself as an “incel” or “involuntary celibate.” The incel movement is an online community that seeks to commit violence against women in support of their belief that they have been unjustly denied sexual or romantic attention.

According to the charges, the defendant allegedly wrote a manifesto stating he would “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy, and revenge” and later conducted surveillance at the university. He also maintained profiles on a popular incel website, drafting hundreds of posts. Law enforcement found guns, ammunition, body armor, and other tactical equipment in the defendant’s residence and car.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/highland-county-man-pleads-guilty-attempting-hate-crime

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-charged-hate-crime-related-plot-conduct-mass-shooting-women-illegal-possession

Missouri | August 8, 2022 | Religion

Missouri Man Admits Threatening to Blow up a St. Louis Synagogue

A man from St. Louis admitted threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogue in 2021.

The defendant admitted to calling the St. Louis office of the FBI on Nov. 5, 2021 and saying, “I’m going to blow up a church.” He gave his name and identified his target as the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, saying he would act the next morning, while people were inside.

The defendant continued to contact the FBI with threats, saying he hated Jewish people “with rage.” In a third call, he gave his location, which was on the same street as the targeted Church. Officers arrested the man without further incident.

The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/st-louis-man-admits-threatening-blow-st-louis-synagogue

Texas | August 4, 2022 | Race

Texas Man Sentenced on Hate Crime Charges for Attacking Asian Family

A Texas man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on hate crime charges for attacking an Asian family he believed was Chinese and therefore responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The man admitted that he entered Sam’s Club Warehouse in Midland, Texas, behind an Asian family with young children on March 14, 2020. He had never seen the family before and believed they were Chinese. He followed the family for several minutes because he thought they were “from the country who started spreading that disease around.” He found a serrated steak knife in the store, and cut the father in the face. He left the scene, only to retrieve another knife from the store. When he returned, he attacked the family’s two young children – then aged 6 and 2 years old – who were seated in the front basket of the shopping cart, slashing open the face of the six-year-old child. He also stabbed a Sam’s Club employee who intervened. While witnesses held the man down, he yelled “Get out of America!” at the family. The defendant admitted attempting to kill the 6-year-old child. He also admitted that he attacked the store employee because they prevented him from killing the child.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-hate-crime-charges-attacking-asian-family

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-charges-attacking-asian-family

New Jersey | July 19, 2022 | Race

New Jersey Man Sentenced for Threatening Maryland Woman and Her Family

A New Jersey man was sentenced for using an anonymizing text message service to threaten physical harm to a Black woman and her family in Maryland.

According to the plea, on April 14, 2020, the man began sending threatening messages, including racial epithets, to describe the Maryland woman and her family. He threatened to come to their home and harm them. The defendant wrote, among other things, that “I know where you live now, I’m coming to rape your family” and “eat my bullets.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-sending-threatening-communications-black-maryland-woman-and-her

District of Columbia | July 14, 2022 | Sexual Orientation

Maryland Man Indicted for Assaulting Men in a D.C. Park

A federal grand jury indicted a District man for assaulting four men because of their perceived sexual orientation.

The indictment alleges that on five separate evenings from 2018 to 2021, the man went to a meeting place for men seeking consensual sex with other men, and assaulted men with a chemical irritant. Before spraying the men, he pretended to be a Park Police officer, shined a flashlight in the victims’ faces and gave the victims police-style directives.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for each assault.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-indicted-bias-motivated-assaults-men-washington-dc-park

New York | July 14, 2022 | Race

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Accused Tops Shooter on Federal Hate Crimes and Firearms Charges in Buffalo, New York

A federal grand jury indicted a New York man in connection with the mass shooting at the Tops grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, New York.

The indictment alleges that on or about May 14, the man opened fire and shot multiple individuals in and around the Tops grocery store, which resulted in the deaths of 10 Black people, as well as injury to three others.

The defendant faces up to life in prison or the death penalty.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-accused-tops-shooter-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearms-charges

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/accused-tops-shooter-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-using-firearm-commit-murder

Kansas | June 29, 2022 | Race

Kansas Man Sentenced for Violent Racially-Motivated Hate Crime Targeting Black Man

A Kansas man was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison and 18 months of supervised release for threatening a Black man with a knife because of the man’s race.

According to evidence, the defendant was driving through a residential area in Paola, Kansas, when he saw the victim walking on the sidewalk. The defendant stopped, got out of the car, and approached the victim with a knife. Threatening the victim, the defendant yelled racial slurs, and told the victim that Paola is a “white town.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-sentenced-violent-racially-motivated-hate-crime-targeting-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-pleads-guilty-racially-motivated-federal-hate-crime-targeting-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kansas-man-indicted-hate-crime-racially-motivated-threat-minor-and-unlawfully-possessing

Washington | May 26, 2022 | Sexual Orientation

Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Committing Hate Crime for Arson at Seattle Nightclub

A Washington man pleaded guilty to a hate crime for the Feb. 24, 2020, arson at Queer/Bar, a nightclub and event space in Seattle, Washington.

According to the plea, the man set fire to the contents of a dumpster in the alley directly behind Queer/Bar on Feb. 24, 2020. He was arrested only minutes after setting the fire. He admitted to law enforcement that he set the fire and that he targeted Queer/Bar because it angered him to see a sign that said “queer.” He also told officers, “I think it’s wrong that we have a bunch of queers in our society.” A few weeks after the incident, the defendant told a stranger that his intent in setting the fire was to trap and hurt the people inside.

The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-pleads-guilty-committing-hate-crime-arson-seattle-nightclub

California | May 12, 2022 | Race

California Man Arrested After Using His Car to Disrupt a ‘Stop Asian Hate’ Rally

A Diamond Bar man was arrested on federal charges alleging that he disrupted a “Stop Asian Hate” rally in March 2021 by deliberately running a red light, blocking the path of demonstrators and yelling racial epithets at them.

According to the charges, on March 21, 2021, a “Stop Asian Hate” rally occurred in Diamond Bar. The rally was a protest against the increase in hate crimes and hate incidents against members of the Asian American Pacific Islander community both locally and nationally – including the murders of six Asian American women five days earlier in Atlanta.

During the rally, the defendant allegedly yelled, “Go back to China!” and other racial slurs at the demonstrators. Allegedly, he then deliberately drove his car through the intersection’s crosswalk at the red light, made an illegal U-turn and cut off the route of several rally participants lawfully crossing the street. His car narrowly missing a 9-year old, and others.

The defendant pulled his car over some distance away from the intersection, got out of the car and continued to yell racial epithets and threats at the demonstrators. He then called the police, identified himself as “John Doe” and falsely reported to police that the rally participants were blocking the street and he had to run a red light “because they were about to trample my car,” the indictment alleges. He also allegedly requested that police “get some control out” at the intersection.

If convicted of the two charges in the indictment, the defendant could face up to 20 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/diamond-bar-man-arrested-indictment-charging-him-using-his-car-intimidate-demonstrators

Virginia | April 29, 2022 | Race, National Origin

Virginia Man Found Guilty in Bias-Motivated Attack on Construction Workers

A jury found a Virginia man guilty for a hate crime in in his attack on two Hispanic construction workers.

Evidence showed that on July 13, 2019, at about 6 p.m., the victims were closing their construction site for the day. The defendant approached the men and asked to use their power washer.

When the workers did not allow the defendant to borrow the power washer, he became enraged and began screaming racist epithets. He picked up a construction tool with a sharp metal blade, and tried to stab one of the men. A second victim tried to intervene, but he was struck in the face several times causing serious injuries.

For more information, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/hatebias-related-crimes

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-man-sentenced-prison-bias-related-attack-construction-workers

Oregon | April 25, 2022 | Race, Sexual Orientation

Oregon White Supremacist Sentenced to Prison for Mailing Threats to Former Teacher

A jury sentenced an Oregon white supremacist to four years in prison for mailing threats to a former teacher because of her sexual orientation.

Between December 2020 and May 2021, the man sent two threatening letters. The first contained a printout of what appeared to be a dead, mutilated woman. Handwriting on the image included racial and sexual orientation slurs and stated, “What I’d like to do to you.” The second letter contained another photograph of a decapitated woman in a black trunk.

After identifying fingerprints on the letters, in May 2021, the FBI searched the defendant’s house. Agents found body armor, weapons, and a black trunk like the one depicted in his second letter. The house contained literature and handbooks on death, dismemberment, murder, torture, and sexually-motivated killings. Investigators also found evidence that the defendant was a white supremacist, and that he ran a white supremacist website. On January 4, 2022, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of mailing threatening communications.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/eugene-white-supremacist-sentenced-federal-prison-mailing-threatening-communications

New Jersey | April 20, 2022 | Religion

New Jersey Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for Attacks on Members of the Orthodox Jewish Community

The Department of Justice charged a New Jersey man with federal hate crimes for a series of violent assaults. The victims were all members of the Orthodox Jewish community in and around Lakewood, New Jersey.

According to the complaint, on April 8, the defendant attacked the first victim and stole his car. The victim was an Orthodox Jew. On three separate occasions that day, the defendant tried to drive a car into Orthodox Jewish pedestrians. On the first attempt, he struck a man causing serious injuries. On the second attempt, the defendant struck the victim, then exited his car and stabbed the victim in the chest with a knife. The third attack also struck an Orthodox Jewish victim, causing serious injuries.

Charges contained in a criminal complaint are serious. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/ocean-county-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox

Criminal Complaint: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/press-release/file/1495646/download

Florida | April 19, 2022 | Religion

A Florida Man Pleads Guilty for Hate-Motivated Threats Against a Member of Congress

A Florida man pled guilty to threatening a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

On July 16, 2019, the defendant sent an email to U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar threatening to kill her. The subject line of his email read, “[You’re] dead, you radical Muslim.” He referred to Congresswoman Omar and her colleagues as “radical rats,” and asked her if she was prepared “to die for Islam.” The email further stated that he was going to shoot her in the head.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charges-hate-motivated-threats-against-us-member-congress

Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota | April 12, 2022 | Religion

Two Illinois Men Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in 2017 Bombing of Minnesota Islamic Center

A federal judge sentenced two men to prison for their roles in the 2017 bombing of the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Two other defendants have pled guilty to their roles in the bombing.

During the summer of 2017, the defendants joined a terrorist militia group called “The White Rabbits” in Clarence, Illinois. On August 4th and 5th, the group drove a rented truck from Illinois to Minnesota to bomb the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center. The defendants selected the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center to terrorize Muslims into believing they are not welcome in the United States and should leave the country. On August 5, the group bombed the Islamic Center. At the time of the bombing, several worshipers were gathered in the mosque for morning prayers.

On November 7, 2017, the group also attempted to set fire to the Women’s Health Practice in Champaign, Illinois. They used a sledgehammer to break a window and placed a device in the building to start a fire. The device did not ignite and was found by a Women’s Health Practice employee.

The two men face between 14 and 16 years in prison for their crimes.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/federal-jury-convicts-illinois-man-bombing-dar-al-farooq-islamic-center

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/two-illinois-men-sentenced-prison-their-roles-bombing-dar-al-farooq-islamic-center

Washington | April 8, 2022 | Race

Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime in Assault of a Black Man

The second of four prospective members of a white supremacist group admitted to beating a Black man, and lying to investigators about using racial slurs.

According to the plea agreement, the defendants were prospective members of a white supremacist group. The men traveled to the Seattle area to celebrate a known white supremacist who died in the 1980s. On December 8, 2018, the men went to a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, assaulting a Black man who was working there as a DJ. The group assaulted two other men who came to the DJ’s aid. The attackers shouted racial slurs and made Nazi salutes during the assault.

In admitting his guilt, the defendant also admitted that he lied to the FBI when he claimed that the defendants did not use racial slurs during the assault.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, both sides recommend a 37-month prison term for the defendant.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/second-four-men-charged-racially-motivated-hate-crime-enters-guilty-plea

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/four-indicted-hate-crimes-and-false-statements-after-racially-motivated-assault

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/press-release/file/1347166/download

Texas | March 24, 2022 | Religion

Texas Man Charged with Setting Fire to Synagogue

A federal grand jury indicted a man for intentionally setting fire to the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Austin on October 31, 2021.

According to evidence, on October 31, 2021, a man set fire to the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue. Security video from that day shows the man moving toward the synagogue’s sanctuary. Moments later, video shows the glow of fire coming from the sanctuary. Then, it shows the man jogging away from the fire to an open vehicle.

No one was injured, but the fire caused over $200,000 in damage. The vehicle seen in the surveillance video was later traced to the defendant. On November 10, 2021, the FBI searched his house. During the search, agents found items like those seen on security videos, including the clothing worn by the defendant. The defendant also had journals with writings about the fire and his hatred of Jewish people.

The defendant faces at least 10 years and up to 60 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss suffered by the victim, and additional fees for the amount of damage caused.

An indictment is a serious accusation. A defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-charged-civil-rights-violations-setting-fire-synagogue

California | March 7, 2022 | National Origin

Men Who Targeted Turkish Restaurant Sentenced to Prison for Hate Crimes

A federal court sentenced two men to prison for hate crimes after their attack on a family-owned Turkish restaurant in 2020.

Turkey and Armenia are neighboring countries in western Asia that have a long history of conflict. In September 2020, tensions in Turkish and Armenian communities escalated worldwide, including in the United States.

The defendants, who are Armenian-American, sent text messages stating that they planned to go “hunting for [T]urks.” Later that day, the men met with Armenian-American friends to protest what they considered to be Turkish aggression against Armenians, expressing their contempt for Turkey, and showing support for Armenia. The group drove to the restaurant, and the defendants stormed inside, attacking several people inside. During the attack, multiple victims were injured, including one individual who lost feeling in their legs and collapsed multiple times due to their injuries. One of the defendants asked the victims, “Are you Turkish?” and shouted, “We came to kill you! We will kill you!”

The attack caused at least $20,000 of damage to the restaurant and physically injured multiple victims. The defendants owe their victims $21,200 to pay for the damage.

A federal judge sentenced the one of the men to five years in prison and the other to 15 months in prison for the attack.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/federal-prison-sentences-two-socal-men-who-targeted-turkish-victims-hate-crime-attack

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-agrees-plead-guilty-federal-hate-crime-case-attacking-family-owned-restaurant

Georgia | February 22, 2022 | Race, Color

Federal Jury Finds Three Men Guilty of Hate Crimes in the Pursuit and Killing of Ahmaud Arbery

A jury found three Georgia men guilty of hate crimes and attempted kidnapping in the pursuit and killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man who was jogging on a public road.

Seeing Mr. Arbery jogging, two of the defendants armed themselves, got into a truck, and chased him through the neighborhood. They yelled at him, used their truck to cut off his route, and threatened him with guns. The third defendant joined the chase, and all three men tried to prevent Mr. Arbery from leaving after surrounding him. In the ensuing struggle, one of the men shot and killed Mr. Arbery as he attempted to escape.

An important part of the trial was proving that the defendants acted because of Mr. Arbery's race. Evidence showed that each defendant held racist beliefs that led them to assume, without reason, that Mr. Arbery was a criminal.

All three defendants face sentences of up to life in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-georgia-men-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-attempted-kidnapping-connection-death

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-jury-finds-three-men-guilty-hate-crimes-connection-pursuit-and-killing-ahmaud-arbery

Tennessee | February 16, 2022 | Religion

Tennessee Man Sentenced to Seven Years for Church Arsons

A federal court sentenced a Tennessee man to seven years in prison for setting fire to four Nashville area churches.

According to evidence, the man intentionally set fire to the Crievewood United Methodist Church on June 17, 2019; the Crievewood Baptist Church on June 25, 2019; the Saint Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church on June 25, 2019; and the Priest Lake Community Baptist Church on June 26, 2019, all because of their religious character. The fires resulted in significant damage to all four churches.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/tennessee-man-sentenced-seven-years-series-church-arsons

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/tennessee-man-charged-civil-rights-violations-series-church-arsons

Massachusetts | February 16, 2022 | Religion

Man Indicted for Obstructing Investigation into Fires at Jewish-Affiliated Institutions

A federal grand jury indicted a man for making false statements and concealing evidence in a domestic terrorism investigation.

The defendant’s brother was a suspect in four bias-motivated fires set in the Boston area. The fires damaged four Jewish-affiliated community centers and businesses.

In March 2020, federal investigators asked the man about his brother's personal property. The defendant allegedly misled investigators, lying about the location of evidence. Shortly after talking with investigators, the defendant fled the country. Allegedly, taking his brother’s electronic devices and papers with him to Sweden.

The defendant faces up to 8 years in prison for making false statements. He faces up to 20 years for concealing evidence.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/massachusetts-man-indicted-obstructing-investigation-fires-jewish-affiliated-institutions

District of Columbia | February 14, 2022 | National Origin

District Man Pleads Guilty to Bias-Related Assault at Fast-Food Restaurant

A District man pled guilty to a bias-related assault and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon.

According to the evidence, the defendant entered a Chipotle restaurant and asked an employee how much food he could buy with about $8. The employee tried to assist, but due to a language barrier, she asked her manager to help the man. Not satisfied, the man began yelling a series of xenophobic, ethnic, and transphobic slurs at the employees.

He climbed onto the service counter and spit on the employee. He began throwing food and serving spoons at the employee, striking her in the hand. The defendant continued yelling slurs throughout the incident. Finally, as he moved towards the exit, he shouted that he was going to return and kill the employees.

The court sentenced the defendant to 450 days in prison. He will serve less time if he completes a year of probation and participates in mental health treatment.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-man-pleads-guilty-bias-related-assault-confrontation-employees-fast-food

Maine, Massachusetts | February 10, 2022 | Race

Maine Man Indicted for Hate Crimes in the Burning of a Black Church

A federal grand jury indicted a Maine man for setting fire to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. The church serves a predominantly Black congregation.

The government alleges that the man is also responsible for a string of other crimes leading up to burning the church. Setting fires on the church’s property and a series of tire slashings. A search of the defendant’s vehicle and electronic devices revealed his hatred of Black people. His phone contained a recent message calling to “eliminate all N****s.”

The defendant faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 for using fire to damage religious property, and faces a sentence of at least 10 years in prison for using fire to commit a federal felony.

An indictment is a serious accusation. But the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maine-man-charged-hate-crime-offenses-arson-predominantly-black-church

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/maine-man-indicted-hate-crime-offenses-relating-burning-black-church-springfield

Arizona, Florida, Texas, Washington | January 11, 2022 | Religion

Leader of Neo-Nazi Group Sentenced for Plot to Target Journalists and Advocates

A federal court sentenced a Washington man to seven years in prison for his role in a plot to threaten journalists and advocates. The man, a leader of the Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, targeted people who were working against anti-Semitism. Three others pled guilty for their roles in the plot in prior hearings.

According to evidence, the participants in this plot made threatening posters. The posters contained Nazi symbols, threatening language and imagery. The posters were then distributed to members of Atomwaffen Division online. Members of the hate-group then delivered or mailed the posters to targeted journalists and advocates.

In Seattle, the group sent posters to a TV journalist who had reported on Atomwaffen Division. The posters were also sent to members of the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish civil rights organization. The group also targeted journalists in Phoenix and Tampa for reporting on anti-Semitism.

Complaint: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/press-release/file/1252306/download

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/arrests-four-states-racially-motivated-violent-extremists-targeting-journalists-and

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-neo-nazi-group-sentenced-plot-target-journalists-and-advocates

California | December 28, 2021 | Religion

California Man Sentenced for 2019 Poway Synagogue Shooting and Attempted Mosque Arson

A federal court sentenced a California man to life followed by 30 years in prison for his attack on a Poway synagogue. The man pled guilty to over 100 charges for killing one woman, injuring three people, and attempting to kill more than 50.

According to evidence, the defendant set fire to the Dur-ul-Arqam Mosque on March 24, 2019. A month later, he went to the Chabad of Poway Synagogue with a loaded semi-automatic rifle and ammunition. He opened fire on the congregants, killing one and injuring three others. The defendant fled the scene, but law enforcement later caught him and discovered the rifle and ammunition in his car.

A later search of his computer, uncovered a document where he admitted to setting fire to the Dur-ul-Arqam Mosque. He also wrote that the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting inspired him to burn the mosque and attack the synagogue.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-indicted-federal-hate-crimes-related-poway-synagogue-shooting-and-arson

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-poway-synagogue-shooting

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-sentenced-life-followed-30-years-prison-federal-hate-crimes-related-2019-poway

Illinois | December 7, 2021 | Religion

Two Inmates Charged with Murder and Hate Crimes in the Death of a Fellow Inmate

A federal grand jury charged two inmates at Thomson Penitentiary in Thompson, Illinois, with hate crimes and related charged in the beating death of a fellow inmate.

According to the indictment, the two men were members of a white supremacist group called the Valhalla Bound Skinheads. Allegedly, the men attacked the victim because he was Jewish. They beat him even after he was unable to defend himself.

Three of the charges, conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree murder, and hate crimes, carry sentences of up to life in prison.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/press-release/file/1453996/download

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-indictment-charges-two-thomson-penitentiary-inmates-murder-and-hate-crime

California | December 3, 2021 | Race, Color

California Man Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Federal Hate Crime

A federal court sentenced a California man to more than six years in prison for a hate crime for attacking a Black man in Santa Cruz, California.

According to evidence, the defendant slashed the victim with a nine-inch knife. He cut the victim on his head, chest, and stomach, while yelling racial slurs.

The defendant had a history of committing violent acts while yelling racial slurs. This was his fourth known attack against Black men in the last seven years.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-sentenced-more-six-years-prison-federal-hate-crime-conviction

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-convicted-federal-hate-crime-attempting-stab-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-attempting-stab-Black-man

Ohio | November 23, 2021 | Religion

Man Sentenced for Making Anti-Semitic Threats to Neighbors and Breaking Their Window

A federal court sentenced a former Columbus man to six months in prison and a $50,000 fine for a hate crime.

According to evidence, the man threatened his neighbors and their guests during an outdoor gathering in November, 2020. During the confrontation, he made a series of references to gassing Jewish people, chopping them up, and burning them in ovens. He threatened to poison and shoot their dog, and “burn to the ground” a garage that the neighbors were remodeling. He shouted more anti-Semitic slurs, spat at one of the neighbors, and broke one of their windows.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/former-columbus-man-sentenced-prison-hate-crime-involved-making-antisemitic-threats

New Jersey | November 16, 2021 | Race, Religion

New Jersey Man Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Vandalize Synagogues

A federal court sentenced a New Jersey man to one year and one day in prison for conspiring with members of a white supremacist hate group.

After joining the white supremacist group, “The Base," he began encouraging members to vandalize properties connected with African Americans and Jewish Americans.

The group called their plan “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of Broken Glass.” Kristallnacht was a notorious 1938 attack in which Nazis murdered Jewish people and destroyed their homes, synagogues, stores, and schools.

On September 21, 2019, members of “The Base” vandalized synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, spray painting them with hate symbols.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-one-year-and-one-day-prison-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-admits-conspiring-white-supremacists-vandalize-synagogues-across-country

Oregon | November 16, 2021 | Sexual Orientation

Oregon Man Charged with Hate Crime After Attacking Gay Man

Federal prosecutors charged an Oregon man with a hate crime for using the internet to target and assault a gay man. The complaint alleges that he tried to kill the victim.

According to court documents, the defendant met his victim using Grindr, a social media and networking app designed for gay men. On July 5, after agreeing to meet, he entered the victim’s apartment and beat him with a wooden club. The victim’s injuries were life-threatening.

In the weeks before the attack, the defendant searched for violent anti-gay material on the internet. He also searched for suggestions about getting away with murder. The defendant purchased the weapon and other materials used in the attack online.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-after-attacking-gay-man

Texas | October 13, 2021 | Sexual Orientation

Four Texas Men Sentenced to Prison for Targeting Gay Men for Violent Crimes

Four Texas men have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a scheme to target gay men for violent crimes: one to more than 11 years, another to 22 years, a third to 20 years, and most recently, a fourth was sentenced to more than 23 years.

The four defendants admitted that they conspired to target men in and around Dallas for violent crimes. Using Grindr, a social media dating platform used primarily by gay men, the defendants lured men to an apartment complex in Dallas. When the men arrived, the defendants held the men at gunpoint and forced them to drive to local ATMs to withdraw cash from their accounts. While the victims were held at gunpoint, some were physically assaulted, at least one victim was sexually assaulted, and all of the victims were taunted with gay slurs.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-sentenced-hate-crime-and-other-charges-after-using-dating-app-target-gay-men

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-texas-men-sentenced-prison-using-dating-app-target-gay-men-violent-crimes

Ohio | September 13, 2021 | Religion

Ohio Man Sentenced for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS and Attempting to Attack a Toledo-Area Synagogue

An Ohio man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and attempting to commit a hate crime.

The defendant planned to target Jewish congregants at a Toledo-area synagogue while they worshipped. He met online and in person with undercover FBI agents over several months to discuss these plans. During those meetings, he stated that he wanted to kill a rabbi and that he had conducted research to determine when the Jewish sabbath was so that more people would be present. He was arrested after taking possession of two semi-automatic rifles.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-sentenced-20-years-prison-attempting-provide-material-support-isis-and-attempting-commit

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-attempting-provide-material-support-isis-and-attempting-commit-attack

Maine | September 10, 2021 | Race

Maine Man Sentenced for Committing a Federal Hate Crime

A Maine man was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty for his role in a series of race-based attacks on Black men.

The first attack occurred without any clear cause outside of a bar in Portland, Maine. The assault, which broke the victim’s jaw, was immediately followed by an attack on another Black man who was standing nearby.

In a second incident, which occurred at a convenience store about an hour later and miles away, the defendant and his uncle approached a Black man who was walking toward the store’s entrance. As the uncle of the defendant distracted the victim by shouting a racial slur, the defendant sucker-punched the victim, knocking him to the ground. The attack broke the victim’s jaw in several places.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maine-man-sentenced-committing-and-conspiring-commit-federal-hate-crime

Oregon | September 9, 2021 | Race

Colorado Man Sentenced to 16 Years for Unprovoked Stabbing of a Black Man

A Colorado man was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for a federal hate crime after attempting to kill a Black man in an Oregon restaurant.

On December 21, 2019, the defendant walked into a fast food restaurant where the victim was waiting to meet with the restaurant manager about a job. The defendant approached the victim from behind and stabbed him twice in the neck. The victim was able to prevent the defendant from stabbing him again and eventually broke free from his grip.

The defendant later admitted that he was trying to kill the man because he was Black.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/colorado-man-sentenced-16-years-federal-prison-unprovoked-stabbing-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/colorado-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-after-unprovoked-stabbing-black-man

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/colorado-man-charged-hate-crime-after-unprovoked-stabbing-Black-man

New York | August 25, 2021 | Religion

New York Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Hate Crime Offenses

In November 2019, a woman, who is Jewish, began receiving numerous threatening text messages, voicemails and Facebook posts. In several text messages and voicemails, which continued until June 2020, the defendant threatened to murder and seriously injure the woman. He also threatened to blow up her house and car. Some of the threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust.

On December 23, 2019, the first day of Hannukah, the defendant sent the woman a message that included the words “Suns about to go down. It would be a shame if your house were used to light the menorah. Or turned in a gas chamber.” On April 8, 2020, the first day of Passover, he wrote “I’m going to kill you. You better be gone because if you’re in [the victim’s housing community] Easter weekend I’m going to stick you in an oven. Or I’m going to shoot you . . . . I should send you to a concentration camp.”

On June 26, 2020, only a few hours before the defendant was located and arrested by the FBI, the defendant left the victim a voicemail message stating, “The police are not going to help you. The courts are not going to help you. . . . I will kill you.”

The FBI investigation identified several other people who had been similarly threatened and harassed by the defendant.

On April 27, 2021, the defendant pled guilty to one count of interference with the right to fair housing, a hate crime, and one count of sending threatening communications. He was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment, and additional punishment.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-3-years-federal-prison-hate-crime-offenses

Iowa | August 20, 2021 | Race, National Origin

Iowa Woman Sentenced to More Than 25 Years in Prison for Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin

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

Virginia | August 20, 2021 | Race

Virginia Man Sentenced for Burning Cross on the Front Yard of Black Family

A Virginia man who burned a cross on the front yard of a Black family’s home in June, 2020, following a civil rights protest earlier that day, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. The defendant pled guilty in April, 2021, to criminal interference with federally protected housing rights because of the victim’s race.

On June 14, 2020, the Marion Police Department received a report of a burning cross in the front yard of a Black family, one of whom had organized a civil rights protest the day before.

Witnesses stated that the defendant admitted to the cross burning and used racial epithets when referring to the Black family.

Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/marion-man-sentenced-burning-cross-front-yard-african-american-family-june-2020

Press Release (charged): https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/local-man-arrested-lying-about-marion-cross-burning-interfering-fair-housing-based-race

District of Columbia | August 12, 2021 | Race

District Woman Pleads Guilty to Two Assaults, Including One Prosecuted as Hate Crime

A District of Columbia woman pled guilty this week to charges stemming from two assaults that took place in April and May of 2021, including one that was prosecuted as a hate crime.

The defendant pled guilty on August 9, 2021, to one count of bias-related assault and one count of simple assault. She was sentenced to a total of 180 days in jail, only serving half if she completes a year of probation.

The bias-related assault took place on April 6, 2021, when the defendant assaulted a U.S. Postal Service worker who was making deliveries. She shoved the worker, a Black female, while using racial slurs. As the worker tried to flee, the defendant pursued her and continued her assault by repeatedly shoving her and using racial slurs.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-woman-pleads-guilty-two-assaults-including-one-prosecuted-hate-crime

Missouri | August 11, 2021 | Race

Missouri Man Indicted on Federal Hate Crime and Firearm Charges

A federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri has charged a Missouri man with hate crime and firearm charges.

According to court documents, the defendant allegedly shot the victim, trying to kill him with a handgun because of his sexual orientation, causing significant non-fatal injuries.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. If guilty, the defendant faces up to life in prison on the hate crime charge and at least 10 years in prison on the firearm charge.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/missouri-man-indicted-federal-hate-crime-and-firearm-charges

Kentucky | June 24, 2021 | Race, Color

Kentucky Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Hate Crime Murders

A Kentucky man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for two racially motivated murders and his attempted murder of a third person.

On Oct. 24, 2018, the defendant followed a Black man who was grocery shopping with his grandson, before shooting him several times and killing him. He then walked out of the store and into the parking lot, where he shot and killed a Black woman, and exchanged fire with a Black man who was in lawful possession of a handgun. As he left the third victim, he encountered a legally armed white man, who he said he would not shoot because “whites don’t shoot whites.”

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kroger-shooter-sentenced-life-prison-hate-crime-murders

Indiana | June 21, 2021 | Race, Color

Indiana Man Sentenced to Prison for Making Racially Motivated Threats Toward Black Neighbor

An Indiana man was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to making racially motivated threats to intimidate and interfere with his neighbor, who is Black, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, and for unlawfully possessing firearms.

After learning about the neighbor’s plans to remove a tree from the neighbor’s property, the defendant took several steps to threaten, intimidate, and interfere with his neighbor and the construction. This included placing and burning a cross on the fence line facing his neighbor’s property; displaying a swastika facing his neighbor’s property; displaying a large sign containing a variety of anti-Black racial slurs and a machete next to the swastika; loudly playing the song “Dixie” on repeat; and throwing eggs at his neighbor’s house.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/indiana-man-sentenced-46-months-prison-making-racially-motivated-threats-toward-black

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/indiana-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-making-racially-charged-motivated-threats-toward-Black

District of Columbia | June 9, 2021 | Race, Color

District Woman Sentenced to Prison for Hate Crime Targeting Member of the Asian Community

A District of Columbia woman was sentenced to prison for threatening to kill someone because they were a member of the Asian community.

In April, the defendant approached the victim outside a neighborhood store while armed with a knife. She then threatened to kill the victim, saying, “I will kill you; you have coronavirus; go back to China.”

The judge sentenced the defendant to the maximum penalty of 270 days, but suspended all but 90 days of incarceration. After her term in prison, she will be placed on probation for 18 months.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/district-woman-sentenced-prison-hate-crime-targeting-member-asian-community

Alaska | May 27, 2021 | Religion

Alaska Defendant Pleads Guilty for Threatening Los Angeles Synagogue

An Alaska defendant pled guilty to making threats to a synagogue and attempting to obstruct the free exercise of religious beliefs.

On November 1, 2019, the defendant called a Los Angeles area synagogue and left a voice message stating that they were going to kill the synagogue’s congregants. In their message, the defendant repeatedly used slurs referring to people of Jewish faith. The defendant admitted to committing this act with the intent to obstruct the synagogue’s congregants from enjoying the free exercise of their religious beliefs.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on August 23, 2021.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/alaska-defendant-pleads-guilty-threatening-los-angeles-synagogue

New York | May 22, 2021 | Religion

New York Man Arrested for Arson of Yeshiva and Synagogue

A New York man was arrested and charged with setting fire to a yeshiva (a Jewish school) and synagogue on May 19, 2021.

He was captured on surveillance video piling and igniting garbage bags next to a Brooklyn building that housed a yeshiva and a synagogue. Hours later, he was captured on surveillance video again, this time repeatedly punching a man wearing traditional Hasidic garb. There was no interaction between the defendant and the victim prior to the assault.

The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/brooklyn-man-arrested-arson-yeshiva-and-synagogue

Tennessee | May 17, 2021 | Religion, National Origin

Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Assaulting Two Teenage Girls and their Father

A Tennessee man pled guilty to a federal hate crime offense for assaulting two girls and their father.

On October 24, 2017, he yelled “Allahu Akbar!” and “Go back to your country!” at two teenage girls wearing hijabs. He later attacked and injured the girls’ father by swinging a knife and punching at him. When the girls’ mother arrived on the scene with her young child in her car, he chased after them with his knife still drawn. After being taken into custody, the defendant made derogatory comments about the family, pledged to kill them when the police released him, and admitted that he carried out this assault because of the actual and perceived religion and national origin of the victims.

He will be sentenced on October 7, 2021.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/tennessee-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime

California | April 27, 2021 | Race, National Origin

Two California Men Indicted in Hate Crimes Case Alleging They Attacked Family-Owned Restaurant and Threatened to Kill the Victims Inside

Two Los Angeles-area men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy and hate crimes offenses for attacking five victims of a family-owned Turkish restaurant and threatening to kill them. On the day of the attack, one of the defendants sent a text message saying that he planned to go “hunting for [T]urks.” The two men allegedly attacked the restaurant while shouting anti-Turkish slurs, hurling chairs at victims, and threatening to kill them. Multiple victims were injured during the attack and there was over $20,000 worth of damage done to the restaurant.

If found guilty, each of the men face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the hate crime charges and five years in prison for the conspiracy charge.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-california-men-indicted-hate-crimes-case-alleging-they-attacked-family-owned-restaurant

Iowa | April 22, 2021 | Race, National Origin

Iowa Woman Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin

An Iowa woman pled guilty to hate crime charges for attempting to kill two children because of their race and national origin.

While driving, the defendant spotted children walking on the sidewalk and upon seeing them and believing that they were of Middle Eastern or African descent, she drove her vehicle over the curb toward both children, striking one of them. She then drove away from the scene. Approximately 30 minutes after the initial assault, the woman drove her vehicle onto another sidewalk striking a child that she believed was Mexican.

She will face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charged offenses.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iowa-woman-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-charges-attempting-kill-two-children-because-their-race

Michigan | March 30, 2021 | Race

Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Attacking Black Teenager

A Michigan man pled guilty to willfully causing bodily injury to a Black teenager because of the teenager’s race. He confronted a group of Black teenagers, including the victim, in a park state park and repeatedly used racial slurs and declared that the teenagers had no right to use the public beach where the incident occurred. He then struck the victim with a bike lock, knocking out several of the victim’s teeth, lacerating his face, and fracturing his jaw.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/michigan-man-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-attacking-black-teenager

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/michigan-man-indicted-hate-crimes-after-attacking-african-american-teenagers

California | March 26, 2021 | Religion, Sexual Orientation

California Woman Sentenced to 15 Months for Threatening to Bomb Catholic Prep School

A California woman has been sentenced to 15 months and 13 days for intentionally obstructing individuals’ free exercise of religion by threatening to bomb the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., the oldest Catholic school for girls in the country.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.In May of 2019, the school announced that it would begin publishing same-sex wedding announcements in its alumni magazine. In response to the school’s decision, the defendant made multiple calls to the school, threatening to bomb the church, blow up the school, and kill school officials and students.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-woman-sentenced-15-months-threatening-bomb-catholic-prep-school

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/california-woman-pleads-guilty-hate-crime-threatening-bomb-catholic-prep-school

Colorado | February 26, 2021 | Religion

Southern Colorado Man Sentenced to More Than 19 Years for Plotting to Blow Up Synagogue

A Colorado man, who self-identifies as a neo-Nazi and white supremacist, was sentenced to over 19 years in federal prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for plotting to blow up the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado.

In conversations with undercover FBI agents, the defendant repeatedly expressed his hatred of Jewish people and said that he wanted the bombing of the synagogue to send a message to Jewish people that they must leave his town “otherwise people will die.” The defendant’s conduct meets the federal definition of domestic terrorism.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/southern-colorado-man-sentenced-more-19-years-plotting-blow-synagogue

Michigan | February 11, 2021 | Race, Color

Michigan Man Indicted for Hate Crimes After Attacking African-American Teenagers

A Michigan man has been charged for causing bodily injury to two Black teenagers through the use of a dangerous weapon.

According to the charges, he confronted a group of Black teenagers at a state park, repeatedly using racial slurs and saying that Black people had no right to use the public beach. He then struck one of the teens in the face with a bike lock, fracturing the victim’s jaw and knocking out several of his teeth, before trying to strike another teen with the lock.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years for each count.

Vermont | November 3, 2020 | Race, National Origin

Man Sentenced for Federal Hate Crime

A Vermont man was sentenced to time served, of nearly a year, and three years of supervised release for pleading guilty to a federal hate crime.

On July 29, 2019, the defendant intimidated and harassed his neighbors, o a Hispanic family including two children, because of their race and national origin. He threatened to burn down the family’s home while they were inside and threatened to set fire to a member of the family. The defendant also shouted racial and ethnic slurs at the family, yelled at them to “go back to Mexico,” and yelled that “you Mexicans don’t belong on this street.” He warned the family that he would do “whatever it takes to get you off this street,” and exposed his genitals and buttocks in front of the family, including one of the children. Finally, he smashed the family’s mailbox and smashed glass on their lawn.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-vt/pr/man-sentenced-federal-hate-crime

New York | June 30, 2020 | Religion

New York Man Arrested for Hate Crime

A New York Man has been charged by federal criminal complaint with making anti-Semitic death threats to a resident of Stratford, Connecticut.

On December 23, 2019, the first day of Hanukkah, the man began sending the victim, who is Jewish, threatening text messages. In several messages, he threatened to murder or seriously injure the victim. He also threatened to blow up the victim’s house and car. Some of the threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust.

The charges, which include a hate crime, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/new-york-man-arrested-hate-crime

Florida/Virginia | April 30, 2020 | Race, Color

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Racially-Motivated Election Interference and Cyberstalking

A Florida man pled guilty to threatening an African-American Charlottesville City Council candidate because of his race and because he was running for office, and to threatening, harassing, and stalking another victim using social media.

The defendant admitted using fake names on social media to promote white supremacy and to express support for racially-motivated violence. The defendant also admitted to using social media to threaten violence against an African-American resident of Charlottesville, Virginia, because of his race and because he was running for City Council.

The defendant will be sentenced on July 23, 2020, and faces up to one year in prison for making online threats and up to five years in prison for using the internet to threaten, stalk, and harass.

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-pleads-guilty-racially-motivated-interference-election-charlottesville-virginia

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-man-arrested-making-racially-motivated-threats-interference-election-charlottesville

Massachusetts | April 15, 2020 | Religion

Massachusetts Man Charged with Attempted Arson at a Jewish-Sponsored Assisted Living Facility

An East Longmeadow man was arrested and charged in connection with attempted arson at a Longmeadow assisted living residential facility.

According to the criminal complaint, on April 2, 2020, police discovered a homemade bomb at the entrance of Ruth’s House, a Jewish-sponsored assisted living residential facility for seniors of all faiths,. Police linked D.N.A. found on the device to the defendant. The device was discovered after law enforcement identified credible online threats against Ruth’s House on social media posts tied to a white supremacist organization.

The defendant faces two separate charges, each with sentences of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release following imprisonment, and fines of $250,000.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/east-longmeadow-man-charged-attempted-arson-longmeadow-assisted-living-residential

Pennsylvania | March 30, 2020 | Race, Color, Religion, National Origin

Lehighton Man Charged with Internet Threats

A Leighton man has been charged with transmitting threats across state lines to cause bodily injury to another person.

The defendant allegedly used fake names online to post hundreds of anti-Semitic, anti-black, and anti-Muslim messages, images, and videos. Several of these posts, like the one charged in the complaint, included threats to various religious and racial groups. Other posts expressed a desire to commit genocide and “hate crimes,” and called for or depicted images of the killing of Jewish people, black people, and Muslim people”. On March 13, 2019, the defendant allegedly posted a digitally-created image of his arm and hand aiming an AR-15 rifle at a congregation of praying Jewish men, gathered in what appears to be a synagogue.

The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 5 years of imprisonment for each violation, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/lehighton-man-charged-internet-threats

Maine | March 10, 2020 | Race, National Origin

Man Convicted of Hate Crime Assaults in Maine

Maurice Diggins was convicted of conspiring to—and committing—hate crimes against black men in Maine. The government proved that Diggins conspired with his nephew, Dusty Leo, to brutally assault two men because they were black. Leo had already pleaded guilty.

In the first incident, Diggins attacked a black Sudanese man without provocation. During the same incident, Diggins and Leo assaulted another black man who was standing nearby. Witnesses heard Diggins and Leo using racial epithets during these incidents.

In the second incident, which occurred about an hour later and approximately 20 miles away, Diggins and Leo drove into a parking lot of a convenience store, where Diggins got out of the truck and approached a black man who was walking toward the store’s entrance. Diggins directed a racial slur at the man and distracted him while Leo got out of the truck and sucker-punched the man in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

In both incidents, Diggins and Leo’s unprovoked attacks broke the victims’ jaws requiring extensive surgery.

Diggins and Leo have not been sentenced yet. Diggins faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each hate crimes charge, and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. Leo faces the same penalties for the conspiracy charge and the hate crimes charge.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/biddeford-maine-man-convicted-hate-crime-assaults

Louisiana | February 10, 2020 | Religion

Louisiana Church Bombing

Holden Matthews has pled guilty to intentionally setting fire to three Baptist churches in the area of Opelousas because of the religious character of those buildings. Matthews set the fires over ten days in March and April of 2019, and each of the church buildings was destroyed.

Matthews admitted that he intentionally set fire to the three Baptist churches with predominately African-American congregations.

Matthews further admitted that he wanted to raise his profile as a “Black Metal” musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s. After setting the third fire, he posted photographs and videos on Facebook showing the first two churches burning. He admitted that he took these photographs and videos in real-time on his cell phone as he watched the churches burn, and that he posted them to Facebook to promote himself in the Black Metal community.

Matthews will be sentenced on May 22, 2020. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 70 years in prison.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-setting-fire-three-st-landry-parish-churches

Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-pleads-guilty-burning-three-baptist-churches-st-landry-parish

Maryland | January 16, 2020 | Religion

Man Charged for Making Threats Against a Maryland Synagogue

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging a Maryland man for threatening to attack a Baltimore-area synagogue on multiple occasions. The superseding indictment replaces the previous indictment, which only charged him with making threats in interstate communications.

In addition to the interstate communications charge, the suspect is charged with intentionally attempting to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs through threats of force.

According to the superseding indictment, he made numerous telephone calls to an employee of a synagogue in Owings Mills, Maryland, and threatened to kill members of the synagogue’s congregations with firearms, explosives, and by burning the synagogue down.

If convicted, the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to 250,000.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/superseding-indictment-charges-man-making-threats-against-maryland-synagogue

New York | January 9, 2020 | Religion

Orange County Man Charged with Additional Federal Hate Crimes for Machete Attack at Rabbi’s Home

A federal grand jury has indicted a New York man with federal hate crimes including willfully causing bodily injury to five victims because of the victims’ religion and for obstructing the free exercise of religion by attempting to kill during Hanukkah observances at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York.

The indictment alleges that on December 28, 2019, the subject was armed with an 18-inch machete and entered a rabbi’s home—adjacent to the rabbi’s synagogue—where dozens had gathered for Hanukkah. There he slashed and stabbed several of the assembled congregants. At least five victims were hospitalized with severe injuries. It is alleged that he targeted and attacked the congregants because of their religion.

Following the attack, he was stopped by members of the New York City Police Department. In the vehicle they saw a machete that appeared to have traces of dried blood on it. After securing warrants, law enforcement searched the subject’s residence and cellphone. The residence contained handwritten journals with several pages of anti-Semitic references, including references to “Adolf Hitler” and “Nazi Culture.” The cellphone contained internet searches for terms such as “Zionist Temples in Staten Island and New Jersey,” “why did Hitler hate the Jews,” and “prominent companies founded by Jews in America.” Also found was a webpage visit on the day of the attack to an article titled, “New York Increases Police Presence in Jewish Neighborhoods After Anti-Semitic Attacks. Here’s What to Know.”

Each count carries a maximum prison term of life.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/orange-county-man-charged-additional-federal-hate-crimes-december-28-2019-machete-attack

Texas | December 13, 2019 | Sexual orientation

Dallas Men Plead Guilty to Hate Crimes After Using Dating App to Target Gay Men

Two men have pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime and other charges in connection with their involvement in a scheme to single out men because of their sexual orientation. The defendants conspired with a third accomplice, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charges in connection with the case in March of 2019.

The defendants used Grindr, a social media platform, to lure gay men to areas around Dallas for robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and violent hate crimes. The co-conspirators held the victims at gunpoint against their will, forced a victim to withdraw money from an ATM, sexually assaulted at least one of the victims, and wiped human feces on and urinated on another victim.

Defendant Atkinson will be sentenced in February of 2020. Sentencing for defendant Ceniceros-Deleon is set for April 1, 2020, and the court has not scheduled a sentencing hearing for defendant Henry.

Henry and Ceniceros-Deleon Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-dallas-men-plead-guilty-hate-crimes-after-using-dating-app-target-gay-men-violent-crimes

Atkinson Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/dallas-man-pleads-guilty-kidnapping-and-conspiracy-charges-after-targeting-gay-men-violent

Mississippi | November 7, 2019 | Race, Color

Two Mississippi Men Sentenced for Crossburning in Predominantly African American Residential Area

Graham Williamson and Louie Revette, of Seminary, Mississippi, were sentenced for a racially motivated crossburning in a predominantly African-American residential area. Williamson was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. Revette was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for recruiting Williamson, planning, and executing the crossburning.

In October 2017, the two men built a cross that they set up and lit on fire near the homes of African-American residents in the Keys Hill area of Seminary, Mississippi. Both men admitted to knowing that burning crosses have historically been used to threaten, frighten, and intimidate African-Americans, and that they wanted to make the community members in the neighborhood fearful. The crossburning was mostly directed at a young African-American victim and placed near the victim’s home.

Williamson Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdms/pr/mississippi-man-sentenced-36-months-crossburning

Revette Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mississippi-man-sentenced-11-years-crossburning

Colorado | November 4, 2019 | Religion

Colorado Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime for Plotting to Blow Up Synagogue

A Colorado man was charged with a federal hate crime for plotting to blow up the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado.

According to the affidavit, the defendant self-identifies as a skinhead and a white supremacist. After visiting Temple Emanuel and observing Jewish congregants, the subject allegedly told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to do something that would tell Jewish people in the community that they are not welcome in Pueblo, and they should leave or they will die. He repeatedly expressed his hatred of Jewish people and support for a racial holy war. He suggested using explosive devices to destroy the Synagogue to “get that place off the map.” He allegedly met with undercover FBI agents posing as fellow white supremacists to develop an attack plan and coordinate how to get explosives.

On November 1, 2019, Holzer allegedly met with undercover agents who provided him with inactive explosive devices created by the FBI. He planned to set off the explosives early Saturday, November 2.

The defendant is currently in federal custody and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Criminal Complaint Charge: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/southern-colorado-man-charged-federal-hate-crime-plotting-blow-synagogue

Louisiana | October 31, 2019 | Disability

Louisiana Family Members Sentenced for Violating Civil Rights of Woman with Disabilities

Terry Knope and Raylaine Knope have been sentenced to 336 months in federal prison for charges of conspiring to obtain forced labor and a Hate Crime involving a woman with cognitive disabilities. Bridget Knope was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for conspiring with family members to receive forced labor. Jody Lambert was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison in June 2019 for conspiring with family members to violate the federal housing rights of a woman with disabilities.

The family conspired to obtain unpaid household labor from a woman with a disability through force, threats of force, physical restraint, as well as physical, verbal, and psychological abuse. The victim was locked in a backyard cage and forced to perform housework in exchange for food and water. The family also routinely stole the victim’s federal disability benefits.

Terry Knope Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edla/pr/louisiana-man-sentenced-violating-civil-rights-woman-disabilities

Raylaine Knope and Bridget Lambert Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-mother-and-daughter-sentenced-violating-civil-rights-woman-disabilities

Jody Lambert Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/louisiana-man-sentenced-conspiring-violate-federal-housing-rights-woman-disabilities

Virginia | August 15, 2019 | Religion, National Origin

Virginia Man Sentenced To 60 Months In Prison For Threatening Employees Of The Arab American Institute

William Syring of Arlington, Virginia, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for threatening employees of the Arab American Institute (AAI) because of their race and national origin. Syring also targeted AAI employees because of their efforts to encourage Arab Americans to participate in political and civic life in the United States.

Syring sent over 700 emails to AAI employees from 2012 to 2017, including five death threats. Similarly, in 2008, Syring admitted to sending threatening emails to AAI employees and used language nearly identical to that in his 2017 emails. For over a decade, AAI employees lived in fear that he would follow through with his threats. The threatening messages took a toll on them, their families, and their loved ones.

On May 9, 2019, Syring was convicted on all 14 counts in the indictment, including seven hate crime charges and seven interstate threats charges.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-man-indicted-hate-crime-and-threatening-employees-arab-american-institute

Conviction: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-man-convicted-threatening-employees-arab-american-institute

Virginia | July 19, 2019 | Race, Color

Three Members of California-Based White Supremacist Group Sentenced on Riots Charges Related to August 2017 “Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville

Benjamin Daley, Michael Miselis, and Thomas Gillen, members of the white-supremacist group formerly known as the Rise Above Movement (RAM), were sentenced in court for violence they committed at political rallies as part of their conspiracy to riot.

From March 2017 to August 2017, the three men traveled with other RAM members to multiple political rallies and organized demonstrations in Virginia and California where they engaged in planned acts of violence. They attended these rallies intending to provoke physical conflict with counter-protestors, which they believed would justify their use of force and protect them from prosecution. The defendants admitted that their acts of violence during the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally were not in self-defense.

Daley was sentenced to 37 months in prison, Gillen was sentenced to 33 months in prison, and Miselis was sentenced to 27 months in prison. A fourth defendant, Cole Evan White, will be sentenced at a later date. All four defendants previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to riot.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/three-members-california-based-white-supremacist-group-sentenced-riots-charges-related

Virginia | June 28, 2019 | Race, color, national origin, religion

Charlottesville Rally Participant Sentenced for Car Attack

James Alex Fields, Jr., who participated in a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes charges that resulted in the death of a victim, caused bodily injury, and involved an attempt to kill other people after he drove into a group of counter-protestors.

According to facts signed by Fields, he attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where multiple groups and individuals chanted and expressed white supremacist and anti-Semitic views. After law enforcement told rally participants to leave, he admitted that he drove into downtown Charlottesville where a racially and ethnically diverse crowd had gathered. Fields proceeded to drive into a crowd of counter-protestors because of their actual and perceived race, color, national origin, and religion. He also admitted that prior to the rally he used social media to express and promote white supremacist views; the social and racial policies of Nazi-era Germany; and violence against groups that he perceived to be non-white.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-related-august-2017-rally-charlottesville

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-29-federal-hate-crimes-august-2017-car-attack-rally-charlottesville

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-sentenced-life-prison-federal-hate-crimes-related-august-2017-car-attack-rally

Oregon | May 23, 2019 | Religion

Oregon Man Sentenced to 15 Months in Federal Prison for Hate Crime Targeting Eugene Church

Benjamin Hernandez, of Eugene, Oregon, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for committing a hate crime targeting St. Mary Catholic Church in Eugene in September 2018 and illegally possessing ammunition.

Hernandez was escorted from St. Mary Church property on September 9, 2018, following an angry outburst during communion services. Over the following weeks, Hernandez was spotted around the property by security cameras and employees spraying door handles with pepper spray, making threatening gestures towards members of the congregation, and leaving a threatening note coupled with ammunition. As a result, staff and churchgoers were physically injured, frightened, and concerned about their safety.

Hernandez was arrested on September 21, 2018, and pleaded guilty on February 12, 2019, to obstruction or attempted obstruction of persons in the free exercise of their religious beliefs and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Guilty Plea: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-pleads-guilty-federal-hate-crime-threatening-shooting-spree-eugene-church

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/oregon-man-sentenced-15-months-federal-prison-hate-crime-targeting-eugene-church

Ohio | January 29, 2019 | Religion

Ohio Man Indicted for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS and Attempting to Commit a Violent Hate Crime Attack Against a Toledo Synagogue

A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Ohio charged an Ohio man with three federal charges in connection with his plan to attack a synagogue in the Toledo area.

The three-count indictment charges the defendant with attempting to provide material support to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), attempting to commit a hate crime, and possessing firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to court documents, the defendant drew law enforcement’s attention in 2018 with social media posts of weapons and messages supportive of ISIS, as well as posting a photograph originally distributed by ISIS. That online activity led to multiple interactions between him and undercover FBI agents, during which the defendant stated his support for violent attacks and operations. For example, he communicated to the undercover agent his admiration for the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 2018. Additionally, the defendant discussed conducting a mass shooting at a synagogue with the undercover agent. He identified two synagogues as potential targets, discussed the types of weapons he believed would be able to inflict mass casualties, and stated he wanted to kill a rabbi. He wrote the name and address of the synagogue he selected and showed the undercover agent photos of the inside. He was arrested after he accepted two semi-automatic rifles the undercover agent told him he had purchased for the attack. The weapons were rendered inoperable by law enforcement officers, so they posed no danger to the public.

Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-indicted-attempting-provide-material-support-isis-and-attempting-commit-violent-hate

Kansas | January 25, 2019 | Religion, national origin

Three Kansas Men Sentenced to Prison for Plotting to Bomb Somali Immigrants in Garden City

On January 25, 2019, Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright, and Patrick Stein were sentenced to 25, 26, and 30 years, respectively, for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and to violate the housing rights of their intended victims. Both conspiracies stemmed from the defendants’ plot to blow up an apartment complex in an effort to kill the Somali Muslim immigrants who lived and worshipped there. Prior to the conviction, the FBI conducted an eight-month-long investigation during which they uncovered recordings of the defendants discussing their plan to attack the apartment complex. One undercover FBI agent posed as a black-market arms dealer and met with one of the defendants, who attempted to purchase a bomb from the undercover agent.

Sentencing: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-southwest-kansas-men-sentenced-prison-plotting-bomb-somali-immigrants-garden-city

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COMMENTS

Examples of State Crimes 2020-2023
Countries Committing State Crimes in 2020-2023. Three prominent examples of governments committing crimes against humanity since 2020 include: Russia - the invasion of Ukraine. China - the cultural genocide against the Uyghers. The Taliban's increasing oppression of women.
Interactive Case-Studies
Interactive Case-Studies. The State Crime Testimony Project (SCTP) aims to enrich understandings of elite deviance through the provision of data and materials that is often marginalised, hidden or destroyed by those in power.. During the course of the 20 th century newly emerging, and well established, states killed and plundered on a grand scale. . However, these acts of barbarity have not met s
Political Corruption and State Crime
The Holocaust stands out as perhaps the quintessential example of the state acting as a criminal agent. In the Holocaust, over 6 million Jews were killed at the hands of the Nazi government. ... A case study of a state-corporate crime. In K. D. Tunnell (Ed.), Political crime in contemporary America: A critical approach (pp. 171-206). New York ...
Crimes of States and Powerful Elites: A Collection of Case Studies on JSTOR
state crime, corporate crime and organised crime in the united kingdom, saudi arabia, yemen and the congo download; xml; organised crime:: county lines in the united kingdom and the problem of bosnian 'peacekeepers' download; xml; colonial crimes:: the treaty of waitangi in new zealand and residential schools in canada download; xml
Moving Beyond Abstract Typologies? Overview of State and State
The early research on state crime, as was the case with state-corporate crimes discussed in the following section, often focused on the definitional ambiguity of the term white-collar crime and why and how crimes of state should fall under the purview of criminologists (Barak, 1991; Chambliss, 1995; Green & Ward, 2000; Sharkansky, 1995).Needless to say, Chambliss' piece catalyzed critical ...
A Critical Introduction to State-Corporate Crime
For example, Mullins and Rothe (2007) argue that Kramer et als model must be modified to acknowledge and distinguish other social dimensions instrumental to the crimes of the powerful. ... A Case Study of State-Corporate Crime, in Tunnell K. D. (ed.) Political Crime in Contemporary America: a Critical Approach, London: Garland Publishing ...
State Crime
History and Overview of the Field of State Crime. The criminological study of state crime can be traced back to Edwin Sutherland (), who called attention to a then-neglected form of crime, namely, the crimes of respectable people in the context of a legitimate occupation and of corporations.His extension of the concept of crime, beyond its conventional parameters, provided an important ...
State Crimes
A wide range of state crimes may be considered. This can include corruption, e.g. kleptocratic regimes robbing their populations, or human rights abuses, including very extreme acts such as the Rwandan genocide or ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. State crimes include (but are not restricted to): Corruption. Discrimination.
State Crimes
A classic case would be Libya in 2011. It is now clear that the Gaddafi regime was engaged in criminal activities against the people of Libya for decades. The recently discovered mass grave (September 2011) of about 1500 men by a former prison used by the Gaddafi regime is one example of how opponents of the regime were dealt with.
PDF COPS Crime Analysis Case Studies
This volume presents a collection of crime analysis case studies that examines practical yet unique crime and disorder problems.These case studies are written by crime analysts and practitioners to demonstrate the processes, tools, and research crime analysts use to understand as well as to find viable, comprehensive solutions to crime and ...
The Inside Story on 5 Organized Crime Cases and the People Who
The Inside Story on 5 Organized Crime Cases and the People Who Brought Them to Justice. By Kirsten Slyter on 10/18/2021. This piece of ad content was created by Rasmussen University to support its educational programs. Rasmussen University may not prepare students for all positions featured within this content.
State Crimes: Definition & Examples
Due to the vast scope of state crimes, the study of victims and victimology in state crimes is extensive, ... such as in the case of the Holocaust. That is how the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into existence. In creating the ICC, the global community of sovereign nations recognised that it was necessary to put an end to grave crimes ...
Crime Analysis Case Studies
These case studies are written by crime analysts and practitioners to demonstrate the processes, tools, and research crime analysts use to understand as well as to find viable, comprehensive solutions to crime and disorder problems. Each case study draws upon an analyst's experience, training, and basic problem-solving skills; however ...
Criminal Law Cases Outline
Criminal Law Cases Outline. While statutes and regulations define many crimes, understanding the nuances of criminal law also requires exploring cases that have interpreted common-law, statutory, and constitutional principles. Among other things, courts have helped shape the criminal justice system, outline what the prosecution must prove to ...
Hate Crimes Case Examples
Below is a selection of representative federal hate crimes case summaries. Each includes a link to a DOJ press release, with additional information. Texas | February 22, 2024 | Gender Identity. Texas Man Who Threatened Doctor Serving Transgender Patients Sentenced. Ohio | January 30, 2024 | Sexual Orientation, Religion.
State-Organized Crime: Examples & Forms
The Iran-Contra Affair. One real-life example of state-organized crime was the Iran-Contra Affair in the 1980s. The United States, led by then-President Ronald Reagan, supported the right-wing ...
Case Studies of state crime! : r/Criminology
Case Studies of state crime! Research evening, im looking for some examples/case study of state crime, i have the holocaust obviously and Abu Ghraib, but im finding it difficult to find many on Google, any advice or examples would be much appreciated! Archived post. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast.
Crime: Definition, Case Studies, Types, and Societal Impact
Crime is a complex and multifaceted term with various definitions across disciplines. Below are a few definitions by renowned individuals or entities, along with examples: Cesare Beccaria (Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, and politician): Definition: Crime is an action which violates the basic rights of individuals.

Examples of State Crimes 2020-2023

Countries Committing State Crimes in 2020-2023

Russia’s Crimes Against Humanity

China’s Genocide Against the Uyghurs

The Taliban in Afghanistan

The United States and Israel as State Criminals

The Crimes of the United States of America

The State of Israel

Syria and Turkey

War Crimes in War Torn Countries (Special Note)

Three organisations which monitor state crimes:

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State crimes in sociology

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