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South Carolina men accused of targeting Hispanic shoppers indicted on federal hate crime charges
Two men in South Carolina have been indicted on federal hate crime charges in connection with robberies targeting Hispanic customers outside gas stations and a Mexican grocery store.
Charles Antonio Clippard, 26, and Michael Joseph Knox, 28, are accused of forcibly taking cash, cellphones and, in one instance, a car after following shoppers to their homes and holding them at gunpoint in 2021, according to a federal grand jury indictment issued Monday. The Columbia-area men intentionally picked victims they identified as Mexican or Hispanic, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
“The indictment alleges that the defendants committed three armed robberies as part of the conspiracy, including one carjacking, because of the victims’ race and national origin and because those individuals were using places of public accommodation,” the Justice Department said.
South Carolina is one of two states in the country without laws that allow harsher punishments for violent hate crimes. The other is Wyoming. The 2015 racist massacre of nine Black members of the Emanuel AME church in Charleston has fueled the push to add a state-level hate crimes law in South Carolina, but some Republican state senators have repeatedly stalled the proposal.
Clippard and Knox targeted and robbed at least four people, identified in the grand jury indictment as John Doe 1, John Doe 2, John Doe 3 and John Doe 4, although the filing alleges that they also did the same to “others because of their race or national origin, and because the victims had been using a public accommodation.” At least one instance, Clippard and Knox’s alleged crimes resulted in bodily injury, the indictment said.
The two men were each indicted on three counts of hate crimes, three counts of firearms offenses, one count of carjacking and one count of conspiracy. The firearms offenses call for a minimum of 21 years in prison. Each hate crime charge carries up to 10 years in prison, and the carjacking charge up to 15 years.
The Associated Press left phone messages with the attorneys representing the defendants. Federal investigators in Columbia are looking into the case alongside the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and local police.
NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.
Four people were fatally shot and three people were injured in a mass shooting in Kentucky on Saturday, the Florence Police Department said in a statement.
Officers arrived at a private residence at 2:51 a.m. to see seven people shot – and found out the suspect had fled the scene in his car. Police said they located the fleeing suspect and tried to nab him during a traffic stop, but he continued to drive.
A chase ensued, police said, and only ended when the suspect’s car drove into a ditch off the roadway. The suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Three of the victims were taken to UC Health Hospital. They are currently listed in critical but stable condition, officials said.
Everyone was attending a birthday pool party, Florence Church of God, a local church, posted on its social media. One of their congregation’s sisters asked for prayers for her friend whose daughter was killed in the shooting.
“A man came in uninvited on a birthday pool party and killed four people,” the church’s Pastor Campbell wrote.
One of them was a friend’s daughter, the pastor wrote, and “her granddaughter is in the hospital with gunshot wounds.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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