Two men pled guilty on Tuesday to federal hate crime charges stemming from a series of attacks on African-Americans in Jackson, MS last year, including the murder of James Craig Anderson, according to CNN.
William Kirk Montgomery, 23, and Jonathan Gaskamp, 20, were part of the group of young men responsible for Anderson’s violent death in June 2011. Montgomery was there the night that Darryl Dedmon, Jr. ran over Anderson with his truck after the group savagely beat the 49-year-old auto plant worker.
Though uninvolved in Anderson’s murder, Gaskamp had participated in other, similar attacks around Jackson with the group. Both Montgomery and Gaskamp pled guilty to federal hate crimes charges this week.
Blog
December 6, 2012 - 3:50pm
Lancaster, CA continues Not In Our School campaign into its 3rd year! The city of Lancaster, CA, where a segment of our PBS documentary Not In Our Town: Class Actions was filmed, is in their third year of a community-wide NIOS Campaign! Students, teachers, and board members all participated in the Nov. 13 city council meeting to sign a proclamation against bullying in schools, according to the Antelope Valley Times. They signed banners renewing their pledge against bullying and promised to be upstanders whenever they see bullying occur. We are excited to watch the campaign’s continued success Lancaster!
December 6, 2012 - 5:12am
By Becki Cohn-Vargas, Not In Our School Director
It is one thing to read the statistic that half of hate crimes in the United States are committed by teens. It is totally different when teens commit a heinous hate crime right in your community. When 17 year-old Gwen Arajo was murdered by local teens in 2002, her last word "Please don't, I have a family," didn't stop the teenagers from beating and strangling her to death.
December 5, 2012 - 4:35pm
By Leah P. Hollis, Ed.D.
What happens to bullies when they grow up and get jobs? Civility doesn’t automatically develop in a bully simply because he or she gets older. Bullying is learned behavior; therefore a bully often needs support and coaching to abandon such bullying tactics.
December 3, 2012 - 11:37am
Native Americans Open Up About Prejudice in Montana NIOT Summit
Native Americans in Montana still face discrimination every day, said attendees at the Not In Our Town “Summit on Hate” in Billings, MN last week, hosted by NIOT Billings. Sometimes the racist attacks come in the form of “war chants” at high school football games. Other times, it’s the derogatory comments about government assistance all natives supposedly get.
“I’ve been waiting for my ‘free Indian money’ my whole life. It doesn’t happen,” said Luella Brien, a member of the Crow tribe. Brien and others related their experiences at the summit. Read more on Indian Country Today.