A Georgia couple was convicted to a total of 35 years after they terrorized an African-American family. They threatened the family, uttered racial slurs and waved confederate flags at the birthday party of one child in the family.
They were identified as Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton. They were convicted under a street gang terrorism law from an incident that stemmed from a 2015 harassment, which was caught on video. The incident took place in Douglasville, which was outside Atlanta. The video that was made public showed vehicles parading at a children's party equipped with Confederate battle flags, BBC reported.
Aside from that, witnesses claimed some people had guns and knives during the attack. Fifteen people were said to be involved in the attack and the attack came days after the Dylann Roof shooting incident took place in South Carolina.
Superior Court Judge William McClain said the two committed a hate crime. Torres, 26, was sentenced to 20 years, 13 of which will be served behind bars. He was found guilty of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and street gang terrorism. Atlanta has no hate crime law, New York Daily News reported.
As for Norton, a 25-year-old mother-of-three, she was sentenced to 15 years and only six years will be spent in prison. She was also found guilty of terroristic threats and gang terrorism. Prosecutors said the cases against Torres, Norton and the other defendants were not based on their right to fly a Confederate flag but on threatening the victims.
Norton and Torres sobbed during their latest court appearance as they apologized to the victims. Norton said at one point they are not the people who threatened those at the birthday party and that she would never walk up to them and say such words. The mother of the children at the birthday party said their stand affected her life, as well as her children's lives.
Two more were convicted after they pleaded guilty. They are now serving shorter prison terms. The other people less involved in the incident underwent a diversion program.
