TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa federal jury convicted a Pinellas County man of a hate crime for what prosecutors referred to as “a racially motivated attack against a Black man who traveling down a public roadway with his family.”
According to federal prosecutors, Jordan Patrick Leahy, 29, was driving when he got here throughout the sufferer, who was driving his youngster and girlfriend dwelling from a household get-together. Prosecutors stated Leahy started threatening the sufferer, calling him racial slurs and making an attempt to run the sufferer’s automobile off the highway.
The prosecution stated Leahy adopted the sufferer’s automobile for practically a mile and a half earlier than sideswiping their automobile. Leahy then fled the scene however stopped on the subsequent cease mild. That’s the place prosecutors stated the sufferer’s automobile pulled up behind Leahy.
Prosecutors stated, “Leahy got out of his car, stormed at (the victim) and tried to assault him, again yelling racial slurs.”
Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, and Leahy made statements to them “evidencing his bias motive, including telling the officers that Black people need to be kept ‘in their areas.'”
“Across America, families must be able to freely travel our public streets without fear of being attacked because of race,” stated Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke stated in an announcement. “This verdict should send a strong message that the Department of Justice remains firmly committed to prosecuting, to the fullest extent of the law, those who would use violence to enforce heinous racist beliefs.”
Leahy faces a most sentence of 10 years in jail, three years of supervised launch, and a advantageous of as much as $250,000. He was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals till he’s sentenced.
