Federal authorities charge white ‘knockout’ suspect with hate crime
Federal authorities said Thursday they have arrested and charged a Texas man in connection with the “knockout game,” accusing him of a hate crime for targeting a black man for a vicious street attack.
Most knockout victims that have appeared in news reports have been white, but the Justice Department said in this instance the victim was a 79-year-old black man, and stepped in with federal charges.“Suspected crimes of this nature will simply not be tolerated,” said Kenneth Magidson, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Texas. “Evidence of hate crimes will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted with the assistance of all our partners to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Justice Department said it filed a criminal complaint against 27-year-old Conrad Alvin Barrett on Tuesday and arrested him on Thursday.
According to Justice officials, Mr. Barrett recorded himself on his cellphone attacking the 79-year-old man, laughing and saying “Knockout” as he runs away.
The 79-year-old man had his jaw broken in the Nov. 24 attack.
“The plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?” Mr. Barrett says in the video, according to the authorities.
Knockout, in which someone decides to attack a random victim and tries to knock him or her out with one punch, has been in the news after a spate of assaults in recent weeks.The “game” has spawned a fierce debate since many of the reported victims have been white and their assailants have been black, but hate crimes charges have been all but non-existent.
Last month New York authorities did charge one person with a hate crime, saying the assailant targeted a Jewish man.
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