ATTACKED TWO BLACK WOMEN WITH A SHOTGUN
After pleading guilty back in July of 2023, a Florida man, FEP (27), was sentenced in late April to 60 months in prison (followed by three years of supervised release) for his commission of federal hate crimes against two Black women.
Apparently, after his card was declined at a convenience store, FEP walked out of the establishment with unpaid merchandise. When he later returned, he is said to have scolded the Black clerk who unsuccessfully attempted to process the credit transaction and used racial slurs. He then left to retrieve a shotgun from his car, returned to the establishment, pointed the firearm at the woman, cocked it, and then loaded a bullet. (But she was able to escape without physical injury.)
Two days later, FEP approached another Black woman as she was sitting on a walker on a public sidewalk, directed slurs at her, and threatened to kill her. He then left and returned with his firearm and shot at the woman. (She suffered injuries when she fell to the ground but wasn’t hit by the gunfire.)
In a written statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, noted that “The defendant is being held accountable for targeting two Black women with a gun on two separate days because of their race …. No one in this country should have to live in fear that when they use public spaces or work at their job, they risk attack by someone who hates them because of the color of their skin. The Justice Department is committed to protecting Black people from racially-motivated violence. We will continue to be relentless in investigating and prosecuting individuals who threaten or commit unlawful acts of hate.”
They sure shot that shotgun approach down ….