When you read this press release from the U.S. Attorney, note that the crime charged is not arson, but “hate.”
When parallel “hate crime” legislation came before the Illinois House, I voted “no.”
I figured the motivation for the actual crime was not as important as the crime itself.
This is the first time I have seen the Feds ignore the underlying crime and merely prosecute the motivation.
From the U.S. Attorney:
CHICAGO WOMAN WHO THREW INCENDIARY DEVICE ONTO NEIGHBORS’ PORCH SENTENCED TO NEARLY THREE YEARS IN PRISON ON FEDERAL HATE CRIME CHARGE
CHICAGO — A Chicago woman who threw an incendiary device onto her neighbors’ porch has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison on a federal hate crime charge.
On March 16, 2024, ANA M. HERNANDEZ threw a glass bottle containing oil and a washcloth—a device commonly known as a “Molotov cocktail”—onto her neighbor’s back porch in Chicago.
The incendiary device started a fire on the wooden porch, but no one was injured.
Hernandez admitted in a plea agreement that she threw the device onto the porch because the victims who resided there were of Venezuelan origin, and she wanted to convince them to leave the residence.
Later that day, Hernandez placed a handwritten note on the car of the victims’ landlord, who owned and resided in the building.
Among other things, the note stated, “We do not want you in the neighborhood. Go back to your country. You can go the easy way or the hard way.”
Hernandez, 70, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal hate crime charge of unlawfully interfering with housing rights.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins sentenced Hernandez to two years and nine months in federal prison.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The Chicago Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan L. Shih.
