Missouri Woman Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison for Vandalism and Arson of Biracial Man’s Home

WASHINGTON—A Missouri woman was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for her role in the vandalism and arson of a biracial man’s home in Independence, Missouri, the Department of Justice announced.

Teresa Witthar, 43, of Independence, was sentenced in the Western District of Missouri by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple.

On February 2, 2012, Witthar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of violating the Fair Housing Act, and one count of obstruction of justice. Witthar’s co-conspirators, Charles Wilhelm and David Martin, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2012, and March 7, 2012, respectively, to one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the victim and one count of violating the Fair Housing Act for their roles in vandalizing and burning down Nathaniel Reed’s home in Independence.

According to the plea agreement filed with the court, Witthar, Wilhelm, and Martin conspired to intimidate and scare Reed, a biracial man, into moving out of the Highland Manor Mobile Home Park in Independence, in part because of his race. On or about June 6, 2006, Witthar, along with Wilhelm and Martin, entered Reed’s mobile home, without his permission, and vandalized it by writing at least 15 racially derogatory slurs on the walls of his trailer.

Two days later, on or about June 8, 2006, Witthar drove Martin and Wilhelm to a neighborhood behind Reed’s home so that they could set fire to his home without being detected. Witthar waited in her vehicle for Wilhelm and Martin to set the fire and then provided them a ride back to the Highland Manor Mobile Home Park.

The investigation further revealed that in spring 2011, Witthar unsuccessfully attempted to persuade another individual to testify falsely in front of a grand jury about her role in the vandalism and fire.

“Violent and destructive acts such as the arson of this man’s home seek to undermine the guarantees of equal justice and equal opportunity that are central to our laws,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to act aggressively to ensure that every American enjoys the right to occupy a home free of racially motivated intimidation and violence.”

“Today’s tough sentence makes it clear that our community will not tolerate racially motivated violence and intimidation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri David M. Ketchmark. “We are satisfied that this defendant is being held accountable for the arson, vandalism, and threats that violated Mr. Reed’s civil rights. By defending one victim’s right to live freely in his own home, we are upholding Constitutional freedoms for all citizens.”

Sentencing for Wilhelm is scheduled for July 24, 2012. Sentencing for Martin is scheduled for July 26, 2012.

These guilty pleas were the result of a cooperative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. This case was investigated by the Kansas City Division of the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark for the Western District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Sheldon L. Beer of the Civil Rights Division.

Reward Announced for Information Concerning Area Hate Crime

In the early morning hours of October 9, 2011, the Southampton Baptist Church located at 7521 Comanche Drive in Richmond was vandalized by an unknown person or persons who had spray painted racist and anti-Semitic graffiti and disturbing images on the exteriors walls of the church.

This incident is being investigated by the City of Richmond Police Department as a destruction of property crime; and by the Richmond Division of the FBI as a potential hate crime due to the sheer volume of profane religious and racial graffiti discovered on the church.

As both agencies continue to develop leads in this case, a reward of up to $2,500 is being offered for information that would assist investigators in the identification and subsequent prosecution of those responsible for these crimes.

Investigators urge anyone with information to call the Richmond Division of the FBI at (804) 261-1044 or the Richmond Crime Stoppers tip line at (804) 780-1000.

Photos of the graffiti are below; please be advised that some contain profanity and/or depict violence.

Hate Crimes Remain Steady

2010 FBI Report Released

Get more up to date news on hate crimes and other violent crime at the best police news spot!

Intimidation…vandalism…assault…rape…murder. These are crimes by anyone’s definition. But add an element of bias against the victims—because of their race or religion, for example—and these traditional crimes become hate crimes.

And based on data from the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics report for 2010, the 6,628 hate crime incidents reported to us by our law enforcement partners stayed consistent with the 6,604 incidents reported in 2009.

Today, we’re releasing on our website the full 2010 report, which contains information about the types of biases that motivate hate crimes, the nature of the offenses, and some information about the victims and offenders. It also breaks down hate crimes by jurisdiction and includes data by state and by agency.

The hate crimes report is fairly reflective of the country—agencies that participated in the Uniform Crime Reporting Hate Crime Statistics Program effort in 2010 represented more than 285 million people, or 92.3 percent of the nation’s population, and their jurisdictions covered 49 states and the District of Columbia. Of the 14,977 agencies that submitted data, 1,949 reported that hate crime incidents had occurred in their jurisdictions.

Here are some of the report’s highlights:

·         Law enforcement reported 8,208 victims of hate crimes—a “victim” can be an individual, a business, an institution, or society as a whole.
·         Of the 6,628 hate crime incidents reported to us for 2010, nearly all (6,624) involved a single bias—47.3 percent of the single-bias incidents were motivated by race; 20 percent by religion; 19.3 by sexual orientation; 12.8 percent by an ethnicity/national origin bias; and 0.6 by physical or mental disability.
·         As a result of the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crime Prevention Act, the FBI is implementing changes to collect additional data for crimes motivated by a bias against a particular gender or gender identity, as well as for hate crimes committed by or directed against juveniles.
·         A reported 4,824 offenses were crimes against persons—intimidation accounted for 46.2 percent of these offenses; simple assault for 34.8 percent; and aggravated assault for 18.4 percent.
·         There were 2,861 reported offenses of crimes against property—the majority (81.1 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism.
·         Of the 6,008 known offenders, 58.6 were white and 18.4 percent were black.
·         31.4 percent of reported hate crime incidents took place in or near homes.

The FBI takes its role in investigating hate crimes very seriously—it’s the number one priority of our civil rights program. “Almost a fourth of our 2010 civil rights caseload involved crimes motivated by a particular bias against the victim,” said Eric Thomas, our civil rights chief in Washington, D.C., “and we frequently worked these cases with state and local law enforcement to ensure that justice was done—whether at the state level or at the federal level.”

This report, and the FBI’s hate crime data collection effort as a whole, would not have been possible without the support of national and state criminal justice organizations and the thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide whose officers investigate, identify, and report hate crimes to us.

Five Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy, Trespass, and Destruction of Government Property

Group Cut Through Three Fences, Violated Areas Secured by Armed Guards

Five protestors who knowingly violated a secure area at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, near Silverdale, Washington, on November 2, 2009, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to prison terms ranging from two months to 15 months in prison for conspiracy, trespass, destruction of property on a naval installation, and depredation of government property. The five were convicted December 13, 2010, following a four day jury trial. The jury deliberated just over four hours before finding the five defendants guilty on all counts. STEPHEN M. KELLY, 62, of Oakland, California, and SUSAN S. CRANE, 67, of Baltimore, Maryland, were each sentenced to 15 months in prison. WILLIAM J. BICHSEL, 82, of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced to three months in prison and six months of home detention. ANNE MONTGOMERY, 84, of New York City, was sentenced to two months in prison and four months of home detention. LYNNE T. GREENWALD, 61, of Bremerton, Washington, was sentenced to six months in prison and 60 hours of community service. All five defendants will be placed on one year of supervised release and will share a $5,300 restitution obligation. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle called the five’s actions “a form of anarchism. If it goes unchecked it will lead to a break down of the social order and descend into chaos,” the judge said.

According to testimony at the trial, members of the group used bolt cutters to cut holes in three chain link fences in order to enter the Main Limited Area (MLA) at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. The defendants entered the secure area where they were apprehended and ultimately arrested by armed military personnel.

At the lengthy sentencing hearing Judge Settle noted that one or more of the defendants could have been killed when they attempted to enter the secure area. Judge Settle said, “Little thought was given to the impact on the young men who are sworn to protect the base.”

In sentencing documents, prosecutors wrote, “The defendants have not shown respect for the rights of others. They have trespassed into a highly restricted area, destroyed the Navy’s property, and placed themselves and others in serious jeopardy. Throughout this case, the defendants have sought to justify their behavior by comparing themselves to heroic individuals who have reacted to being disenfranchised from the democratic process. They miss the point, however. These defendants have never been disenfranchised from the democratic process.”

The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Arlen Storm and Brian Werner.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov.