A U.S. court on Monday convicted four white supremacist men of hate crimes after they assaulted a black man on racial grounds.
The Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Kristen Clarke, said that «the defendants subjected a black man to a brutal, racially motivated assault,» insisting that «racially motivated hate crimes terrorize entire communities.»
The defendants are Jason DeSimas, who has been sentenced to 48 months; Jason Stanley, to 47 months and nine days; Randy Smith, to 42 months; and Daniel Dorson, to 28 months. All four pleaded guilty to one hate crime and one count of false testimony to investigators, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
«The white supremacist myth is alive and well and can encourage dangerous behavior and violence. These particular defendants are deeply rooted in racial hatred, expressed through their Nazi tattoos, white supremacist symbols on their clothing and use of racial slurs,» explained U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Nick Brown.
«They came to our area to honor a man who died leading a racist and violent gang, and they thought they could act on their beliefs with impunity. But the victims and witnesses to their brutal assault have proven that they are much stronger than these four. And today our justice system is holding them accountable for the harm they caused,» added Brown.
The four men attacked a black man working as a DJ at a bar in the Washington state town of Lynnwood on Dec. 8, 2018, after a large group, including members of two supremacist organizations–Crew 38 and Hammerskins–entered the venue.
The attackers–who were wearing clothing presses with phrases, numbers or logos about the aforementioned groups or swastika tattoos–were in the area to attend an annual meeting of white supremacists in honor of a member of the group who was killed in a shootout with federal agents in the 1980s.
The victim suffered severe physical injuries, including extreme pain, loss of consciousness, bleeding and swelling in his eye, and bruises on his back, chest and legs. In addition, racial slurs were hurled at him during the attack. Two bystanders who tried to intervene to help him were also injured.
On the other hand, the four attackers, at first, denied the racial slurs, the clothing or the reason for their trip to Washington during those days. However, in their respective plea agreements, each of these defendants admitted that they were trying to cover up the motive for the assault, which was prejudice against the victim.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
