Hate crime describes a set of crimes motivated by bias against a victim’s race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, gender identification, or gender expression. It typically involves physical and/or emotional harm and sometimes even death.
But hate crimes extend beyond physical violence. In the United States, the destruction and vandalization of religious property and verbal violence that interferes with housing rights and federally protected liberties are also hate crimes.
Unfortunately, hate crimes aren’t unique to the United States. People worldwide are discriminated against, hurt, and killed simply because of who they are. An already lengthy legal procedure for these crimes can be further delayed by community impact and sympathetic parties. Yet, there are instances when instant karma hits the criminal, and justice is served sooner than expected.
Here are ten hate crimes that were met with instant karma.
Richard Holzer and Temple Emanuel
On November 4, 2019, Richard Holzer was charged with attempting an act of domestic terrorism. Holzer, a self-identified skinhead and white supremacist, planned to destroy Temple Emanuel in Pueblo, Colorado. Besides destroying the historic synagogue, he wanted to send a message to the Jewish community in Pueblo that they would die if they didn’t leave. Holzer confessed these thoughts to an undercover FBI agent.
On the night of November 1, undercover FBI agents provided Holzer with inactive explosives intended to be set off just a few hours later. But the law intervened. Holzer is now in federal custody and faces up to 20 years in prison.
He Had it Coming!
On August 15, 2020, a white supremacist harassing a group of Black men on the London Underground got what he deserved. A video posted on social media shows the man shouting at the group to go back where they came from and telling passengers who spoke out against him to shut up.
As the subway reached the platform, the white supremacist balled his fists, egging them on. One of the victims of the racist rant punched the white man’s jaw. The video shows him knocked out on the train floor, with people saying, “well done,” and a woman laughing. Though a moment of instant karma, it doesn’t solve rampant racism in the UK.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
In November 2019, police arrested a 16-year-old girl for plotting to attack Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church’s parish in Gainesville, Georgia. As the police chief said, “She’s a racist.” A classmate heard her talking about her plan and reported her to a school administrator. Police investigation revealed that the teenager had collected knives and written down her heinous plan to commit murder. The pastor of Bethel AMC, Rev. Dr. Michelle Rizer-Pool, praised the principal for teaching his students to say something when they see something. That student prevented a “bloodbath.”
At the time, Georgia had no hate crime laws. It was only after Ahmaud Arbery’s murder that Governor Brian Kemp signed a hate crime law on June 26, 2020.
Islamaberg
Another case of a young, misinformed, racist teenager speaking too loudly in school and getting caught. A 16-year-old at Greece Odyssey Academy in Greece, New York, was plotting an attack on Islamaberg, a peaceful rural Muslim enclave in New York. Along with three others, Vincent Vetromile, Brian Colaneri, and Andrew Crysel had stockpiled 23 firearms and three homemade bombs.
The high school student showed a classmate a photo of someone and said that the person in the photo looked like a potential school shooter. Concerned, the school and local police started an investigation. It turned out the biggest threat to the school and community was the kid himself.
Warren vs. Magnuson
In Portland, Oregon, in 2018, a FedEx driver started his route like usual, only to end up defending himself against a racist attack. Timothy Warren, who is Black, was driving through a quiet neighborhood when an aggressive Joseph Magnuson, who is white, screamed at him that he was driving too fast. Warren pulled over to confront the man and tried to explain that he just wanted to finish the job. Magnuson continued yelling and hurled racist epithets at Warren.
Witnesses report that Magnuson threw a drink at Warren and then threw a punch. Warren punched Magnuson back, causing Magnuson to fall unconscious. Magnuson died at the hospital later that night, but police did not charge Warren. Magnuson was already in poor health. Witnesses also reported that Warren wasn’t speeding and that Magnuson started and escalated the situation. Warren simply acted in self-defense against a racist.
Senior Prank Stupidity
A senior prank at Glenelg High School in Maryland went too far, turning into a full-blown hate crime. Four students snuck onto school property the night before graduation to spray paint “Class of 2018” on the sidewalk. Instead, they ended up spraying homophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist slurs.
They wore masks to avoid identification, but they forgot one thing: their cell phones—all four connected to the school’s Wi-Fi, giving them away. The crime earned them a few weekends of jail time.
“The whole world is laughing at you.”
In December 2018, Brooklyn woman Anna Lushchinskaya attacked an Asian woman, Michelle Tung, on a crowded New York City subway. Lushchinskaya started kicking Tung, yelling racial slurs, and hitting her with her umbrella for no reason other than bigotry. She faced felony charges in 2020, but the judge only sentenced her to probation and anger management.
When your racist attack ends up on social media, people will remember you forever. As one witness said to Luschinskaya on the train, “Literally, the whole world is laughing at you.” Instant karma, in this case, is looking like a fool on the internet.
Shopping Bag Assault
For Rene Ladouceur, instant karma is another name for an ETS Transit Peace Officer. In December 2020, in Edmonton, Canada, Ladouceur struck a 23-year-old Black woman wearing a hijab with her shopping bag. The nearby ETS Transit Peace Officer intervened and stopped the unprovoked attack. He called the police, and they took Ladouceur into custody, charging her with assault with a weapon. She also had nine outstanding warrants for unrelated crimes.
Grindr Kidnappings and Hate Crimes
In 2019, Daniel Jenkins, Daryl Henry, Michael Atkison, and Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon were charged with conspiracy to commit hate crimes and kidnapping. The four men used the gay dating app Grindr to lure victims—”dates”—to an apartment complex in Dallas, Texas, to violently commit hate crimes against them. They targeted their victims specifically for their sexual orientation.
The four men committed the crimes between December 6 and December 11, 2017. They held all nine victims at gunpoint, robbed them, and physically assaulted them. On December 11, they held five people against their will, sexually assaulting three of them. One of the five hostages escaped and called 911. Though it took two years to bring everyone into custody, the sentence they face is karma: a maximum life sentence for kidnapping and hate crimes, five years for conspiracy, and hefty fines.
A Bad Back
Back in January 2020, the FBI arrested three members of the neo-Nazi group The Base: Luke Austin Lane, Michael Helterbrand, and Jacob Kaderli. The feds charged them with conspiring to murder an alleged “Antifa couple.” An undercover agent infiltrated the Georgia cell and took part in their training exercises and propaganda and eventually learned about their plans for future assassinations. Helterbrand even confessed that he wouldn’t have a problem killing a “commie kid.” The murder never happened, delayed because Helterbrand had a bad back. A neo-Nazi with a bad back? Hope it stays bad!
If you witness a hate crime, don’t hesitate to say something and call the police. After calling the police, you can submit your report online to the FBI here. Don’t let hate win—stand up and speak out for what’s right.
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