July 23, 2009 in Idaho

Idaho men convicted of hate crimes

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BOISE - Last year on the Fourth of July, three men, shouting racial slurs, ambushed, chased and beat a 24-year-old African-American man as he left a Wal-Mart in Nampa, Idaho. Now, two of the men have been convicted of hate crimes by a federal jury in Boise.

The third earlier pleaded guilty to one of the two charges and testified against the other two; the two, Michael Bullard, 22, of Middleton, Idaho, and Richard Armstrong, 24, of Nampa, face up to 20 years in federal prison for the attack.

“Driven by bigotry and prejudice, the defendants brutally assaulted a young man because of the color of his skin,” said Loretta King, acting U.S. Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased that a jury of their peers has brought them to justice, as hate crimes have no place in America. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute those who commit such acts of violence to the full extent the law allows.”

U.S. Attorney for Idaho Tom Moss said, “These convictions mean that racial crimes will not be tolerated, not in this country, not on any day. Idaho, like most other parts of this nation, has had inglorious moments in its past when people endured oppression and criminal acts merely because of their skin color, race, national origin, gender or religion. We are long past that time.”

The two defendants will be sentenced in October.

Evidence presented at their trial showed the two men and a third, James Whitewater, attacked their victim while a girlfriend of one of the men, Jennifer Hartpence, held their belongings and cheered them on. Hartpence initially was charged as a co-defendant, but charges against her were dropped before the case went to the jury.

The victim had gone to Wal-Mart to buy milk; it was just after midnight, as the Independence Day holiday began.

As he left the store, Bullard asked him, “What country do you think you’re in?” and flicked his cigarette at the man. The three attackers then chased their victim across the parking lot, tackled him, and then punched and kicked him until he was unconscious. The attackers and victimshad never met before.

Armstrong has a large swastika tattooed on his chest. His lawyer argued that it was a relic from time spent in a juvenile facility, and that Armstrong is a paranoid methamphetamine user, not a racist. Armstrong contended he tried to stop Bullard from committing the crime, but the jury didn’t buy it. Bullard had a juvenile record for spray-painting racially motivated graffiti and the slogan “white power.”

Witnesses testified that the three men laughed and bragged about the attack afterward.

The jury deliberated for four hours before reaching its verdicts Wednesday afternoon. Bullard and Armstrong each were convicted of two federal crimes: conspiring to violate the victim’s federally protected rights; and actually violating those rights with the racially motivated attack.

The Nampa Police Department initially handled the case, assisted by the FBI; it was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office and the U.S. Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division.

Nampa Police Chief Bill Augsburger said, “The victim of these crimes was minding his own business, shopping in a store in our city which is open to the public, as all of us do, and have a right to do, every day. … Hate crimes are serious and will not be tolerated in this community.”

FBI Special Agent Timothy Fuhrman called it ironic that the men committed the hate crime on the Fourth of July. “In this day and age, law enforcement will not tolerate hate crimes,” he said. “The FBI is committed to investigating these incidents aggressively and without hesitation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Five comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  lovethemountains on July 23 at 6:07 p.m.

  It is good news that these scumbags were convicted of assaulting the victim. What I do not agree with however is the idea of “hate crimes.” The last I knew “hating” someone was not a crime, whether that hate is directed toward a minority or or any other class of people.

  Arrest, charge and bring to court anyone who assaults or commits any type of crime against another person regardless of the motivation.

• 

  msfreeh on July 23 at 6:54 p.m.

  to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
  http://www.forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139

  to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
  http://www.dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3574

• 

  Nicotinegun on July 24 at 10:19 a.m.

  Hate Crime is ridiculous. Beating someone is beating someone. Why is it not a hate crime when a group of black teens in Akron OH beat up a white family while saying “this is a black world, this is our world” not a hate crime yet? Why aren’t Soldiers and Whites protected yet? If a black person beats up a white person while calling him cracker, honkey, or whitey that still would be labeled a hate crime.
  The entire notion of having a list of hate crimes is just another Progressive movement by the Left to further remove the traditions and norms of the United States. So now we don’t discriminate against certain people, but we discriminate for a certain people? This is ridiculous and I wish people would wake up and see what the Government is attempting to do. You want to stop racism than stop Affirmative Action, Hate Crime Bills, Reparations, and commiting racism against whites. Racism against whites is still racism, People. You are causing more problems than you are solving.

• 

  samthor on July 27 at 5:33 a.m.

  the reason that hate crimes need to be punished more than regular crime is that it really is two crimes in one. not only is it a beating of one person (in this case the wal mart shopper) but its also meant to send a message out to everyone else like him (in this case African Americans). the message was made very clear that the only reason he was beaten was because of his skin color and they wanted to scare everyone with the same skin color. …. its a form of terrorism, really.

• 

  andreamarie360 on July 29 at 11:57 a.m.

  So, Nicotinegun, the Left is trying to remove traditions and norms of the United States by punishing racism? Which United States? The segregated United States of the first half of the last century? You seem so concerned about “reverse racism”. Do you experience a lot of racism as a white man? Didn’t think so… it’s honestly not very prevalent, is it? It’s people like you who are holding us back. What a shame that ignorance is still among us.