TAMPA, Fla. — Officials announced that more than two dozen defendants in Florida were prosecuted over the past year and a half in order to combat a spike in threats and hate crimes.
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg said the defendants were prosecuted for threats, stalking, harassment, interference with the exercise of civil rights, and other "hate-based crimes."
Officials added that the defendants committed federal offenses on the internet, over the phone, in voicemails, on commercial aircraft, and in person, causing serious harm to both individual and organizational victims.
“If you threaten somebody with violence, law enforcement will take you at your word,” said Handberg. “And if you commit a crime based on hate, we will aggressively investigate and prosecute those crimes, too. Law enforcement officers and federal prosecutors will act quickly to disrupt true threats and hate-based crimes by charging you in federal court.”
Officials said many of the cases involved threats based on victims' race, religion, color, national origin, or sexual orientation.
