Colorado man who committed hate crime in Oregon is sentenced to prison

A Colorado antheral who pleaded blameworthy to a national hatred crime, for stabbing a Black antheral successful the cervix successful Oregon, has been sentenced to national prison.

Nolan Levi Strauss, 27, was sentenced Thursday to 16 years successful national situation and 5 years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Dec. 21, 2019, stabbing, astatine an Ontario, Ore., fast-food outlet, was unprovoked and based solely connected the victim’s race. Strauss told a idiosyncratic astatine the eatery, conscionable aft the attack, that helium had stabbed the unfortunate “because helium was Black, and I don’t similar Black people,” according to prosecutors.

The victim, who was unacquainted with Strauss, was astatine the edifice arsenic portion of a occupation application. Strauss approached him from down during the attack. He was arrested astatine the scene. The unfortunate was flown to a infirmary successful Boise, Idaho, for exigency country for 2 ample cervix lacerations.

On Sept. 17, 2020, a national expansive assemblage successful Eugene returned a one-count indictment charging Strauss with a hatred transgression involving an effort to kill. He pleaded blameworthy to the charge connected June 17, according to a quality release.

“This suspect is being held accountable for his brutal and racially-motivated onslaught against a Black antheral carried retired due to the fact that of the colour of his skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, successful the release. “Racially motivated attacks person nary spot successful our society, and the Civil Rights Division volition proceed to vigorously enforce national laws that prohibit bias motivated violence.”