Oklahoma Man Sentenced for Racially Motivated Hate Crime

An Oklahoma man was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and payment of $68,186.64 in restitution for a racially-motivated attack on a Black victim in Shawnee, Oklahoma. On Jan. 18, 2022, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a two-count indictment charging Devan Wayne…

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Five Patriot Front members convicted of conspiracy to riot in Coeur d’Alene

A jury deliberated for a little over an hour before convicting five Patriot Front members Thursday for conspiring to disrupt a Pride celebration last June in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Devin Center, James J. Johnson, Forrest Rankin, Robert Whitted and Derek Smith stood in suits behind their attorneys and showed no emotion after a clerk read…

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Mississippi Man Charged With Cyberstalking and Making Antisemitic Threats Targeting Synagogues and Jewish-Owned Businesses

United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Donavon Parish, 28, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was arrested and charged by indictment on charges of cyberstalking and communicating interstate threats. The federal grand jury made a special finding that the defendant targeted his victims based on their actual and perceived religion. The indictment alleges that during April…

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Middlesex County Man Admits Communicating Threats to Attack Synagogue

A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man today admitted transmitting via the internet a manifesto containing threats to attack a synagogue and Jewish people, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Omar Alkattoul, 19, of Sayreville, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with…

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UN rights body passes disputed motion on religious hatred after Koran burning

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday approved a disputed resolution on religious hatred in the wake of the burning of a Koran in Sweden, prompting concern by Western states who say it challenges long-held practices in rights protection. The resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),…

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U.S. Attorney Ritz Launches National Security and Civil Rights Unit

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz has announced the creation of a National Security and Civil Rights Unit within the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. This move permanently positions a supervisory attorney and several prosecutors to respond to and prevent hate crimes and civil rights violations, as well…

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Police make arrests in Annapolis church vandalism cases

After someone ripped a cross from the wall and reduced bibles and hymn books to pages littering the sanctuary of the Fowler United Methodist Church in Annapolis, some congregants were too fearful to return for Sunday services. “I have never seen a church in such disarray and so much pain in a room,” said Rev.…

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