A federal grand jury has indicted four white men in a racially motivated attack on an African-American last summer at a bus stop, the first prosecution in the Houston region under a tough hate crime law, FBI officials said Thursday.
Stephen Morris, special agent-in-charge of the Houston FBI office, said the federal law gives investigators and prosecutors expanded authority to go after hate crimes. With a maximum 10-year prison term, the penalties are more severe than state law.
Charged Wednesday with federal crimes are Charles Cannon, 26; Michael McLaughlin, 40;Brian Kerstetter, 32; and Joseph Staggs, 49. All four were already in Harris County jail on misdemeanor assault charges stemming from the attack.
They are accused of a viciously assaulting Houston resident Yondell Johnson, 29, who was waiting for a bus when they allegedly approached him and asked if he had the time. They quickly began to use racial epithets and pummelled him as he lay on the ground in downtown Houston, police said. They are accused of using the N-word as they beat Johnson.
“I’m just glad it’s finally coming to an end, and justice is finally starting to be served,” Johnson said Thursday. “If they get leniency with the feds, that means they’ll say we can go out there and do it again.”
Important legal tool
Morris said the four were charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was passed in October 2009. The law gives the FBI authority to investigate violent crime, including violence directed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, as well as crimes committed because of gender, race, color, religion or national origin.
“It’s not only a significant enhancement of civil rights legislation, it also provided an additional tool for law enforcement to use in investigating civil rights violations or violent crimes that are rooted in hate,” Morris said.
Johnson said four loud, shirtless white men came up to a bus stop shortly before midnight Aug. 13 at the corner Travis and McKinney. He was waiting to catch the bus after spending the day visiting his 12-year-old daughter.
Johnson recalled one man asked him, “Hey bro, you got the time?”
Johnson said he did not, and then heard a second man berate the first.
“Why are you calling a (N-word) a bro?” Johnson recalled.
Victim feared for life
Sensing he was going to be attacked, Johnson stood up and backed against a pole. Johnson, who is an amateur boxer, was able to hold off his assailants for about 10 minutes, but one of them grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him down. As one man held him down, the other three stomped and kicked his face.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening. I thought I was on my way to dying especially when they got me on the ground,” Johnson said. “At first I thought the (police) would be there to break it up, but there was no one in sight. I was lying on the ground, and I saw blood coming out of my nose and mouth. The only thing I had in my head was survival – I prayed God I could make it.”
Official said three of the suspects had white supremacist tattoos.
At a news conference in downtown Thursday, Johnson was accompanied by self-professed community activist Quanell X, who hailed the federal charges but was critical of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“We applaud the Department of Justice and the federal government for bringing historic hate crimes against these individuals who were charged with beating and attacking” Johnson, Quanell said, contending that local prosecutors could have brought a hate charge but chose not to.
Enhanced local charges
However, court records show that last August state prosecutors notified defense attorneys for three of the four defendants they would be enhancing the misdemeanor assault charges to a hate crime during their trial. Under Texas law, the enhancement does not extend the one-year maximum jail term but increases the minimum sentence served to six months in jail.
“The federal authorities approached our office with an interest in these cases shortly after state charges were filed,” said Jim Leitner, first assistant district attorney. “State and federal attorneys and law enforcement officers worked hand in hand preparing these cases for indictment and trial.”
FBI Agent Kristin Rehler, supervisor of the agency’s civil rights squad, confirmed the Houston office is investigating three other hate crimes. She and other FBI agents encouraged victims to report similar crimes to their office.
“We need the people out there to let us know what is going on,” Rehler said.
