kentatm
05-24-2014, 10:27 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pwczsJ-_CA#t=158
A Southern Utah man who threatened to kill a black teenager is now facing federal hate crime charges. The man was upset about a bi-racial family living in his neighborhood. The man threatened the family living in his HOA with a letter on their car and one sent to the office of the HOA inside the neighborhood.
Reporter Ladd Egan knocked on the door of the man, who was more than willing to tell 2News how he wanted to slit the boy's throat if he were to see him walking with a girl not of his race, especially if it was his daughter.
Robert Keller, 70, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal interference with the right to fair housing. Keller explains himself saying that the president of the association "brought in a colored kid."
Keller says he was arrested after making threats in December, but was just now served a summons to appear in federal court. Keller regrets writing the letter though he says he should be allowed to share his opinion. The Hurricane man claims that he was trying to let neighbors know how he felt and the entire thing was blown out of proportion.
He just wanted to "open their eyes." Keller is angry that a white family would allow an African American boy to move in with them. Describing the family he says, "The whole family is white but she claims it's a brother or something."
What set Keller off was when he saw this boy walking through the neighborhood with someone not of his race. He explains himself saying his concern is for the future, "I said what is going to happen down the road, when the black kid starts chasing these girls? What I seen set me off, when he was walking down the street with a white gal."
The man wrote a hate filled rant and left it on the boy's family car and another at the neighborhood HOA office. He said he knew it would not be anonymous and that there were cameras there to see him drop it off. Tenille Ewing who works for the property managers read the letter and said, "There was very offensive language." She goes on to say, "This particular letter made threats against life." Ewing says it "hit home, because it's my ethnic background."
Keller readily admits he wrote every word saying that if "it were my daughter, I think I wrote I'd slice his throat." Ewing said the letter made its point," basically if you don't remove him I will take care of it for you." Ewing says the man has made no complaint about the boy's behavior only that he does not like the color of his skin.
Keller says his mistake was expressing his opinion and writing it down. A judge will now decide if it was an emotional mistake or a federal hate crime. If convicted, Keller faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison on each count.
link (http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_11430.shtml)
“All I wanted to do was open their eyes.” “To me, it’s not a threat, it’s my opinion, which I should be allowed to,” he said, trailing off, before concluding with, “Of course, I wrote it down, which was a mistake.”
What Keller wrote down, in a letter to the family last December, was a direct threat. His hate-filled letter – which concluded with “Get this n***er out!” – explicitly warned the parents that he would kill either the boy or the parents if they did not remove him from the neighborhood.
link (http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/utah-man-facing-hate-crime-charges-says)
:wtf:
A Southern Utah man who threatened to kill a black teenager is now facing federal hate crime charges. The man was upset about a bi-racial family living in his neighborhood. The man threatened the family living in his HOA with a letter on their car and one sent to the office of the HOA inside the neighborhood.
Reporter Ladd Egan knocked on the door of the man, who was more than willing to tell 2News how he wanted to slit the boy's throat if he were to see him walking with a girl not of his race, especially if it was his daughter.
Robert Keller, 70, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal interference with the right to fair housing. Keller explains himself saying that the president of the association "brought in a colored kid."
Keller says he was arrested after making threats in December, but was just now served a summons to appear in federal court. Keller regrets writing the letter though he says he should be allowed to share his opinion. The Hurricane man claims that he was trying to let neighbors know how he felt and the entire thing was blown out of proportion.
He just wanted to "open their eyes." Keller is angry that a white family would allow an African American boy to move in with them. Describing the family he says, "The whole family is white but she claims it's a brother or something."
What set Keller off was when he saw this boy walking through the neighborhood with someone not of his race. He explains himself saying his concern is for the future, "I said what is going to happen down the road, when the black kid starts chasing these girls? What I seen set me off, when he was walking down the street with a white gal."
The man wrote a hate filled rant and left it on the boy's family car and another at the neighborhood HOA office. He said he knew it would not be anonymous and that there were cameras there to see him drop it off. Tenille Ewing who works for the property managers read the letter and said, "There was very offensive language." She goes on to say, "This particular letter made threats against life." Ewing says it "hit home, because it's my ethnic background."
Keller readily admits he wrote every word saying that if "it were my daughter, I think I wrote I'd slice his throat." Ewing said the letter made its point," basically if you don't remove him I will take care of it for you." Ewing says the man has made no complaint about the boy's behavior only that he does not like the color of his skin.
Keller says his mistake was expressing his opinion and writing it down. A judge will now decide if it was an emotional mistake or a federal hate crime. If convicted, Keller faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison on each count.
link (http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_11430.shtml)
“All I wanted to do was open their eyes.” “To me, it’s not a threat, it’s my opinion, which I should be allowed to,” he said, trailing off, before concluding with, “Of course, I wrote it down, which was a mistake.”
What Keller wrote down, in a letter to the family last December, was a direct threat. His hate-filled letter – which concluded with “Get this n***er out!” – explicitly warned the parents that he would kill either the boy or the parents if they did not remove him from the neighborhood.
link (http://crooksandliars.com/2014/05/utah-man-facing-hate-crime-charges-says)
:wtf: