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An Oregon man has now pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges nearly four years after telling FBI agents that he didn't "remember" spewing racial slurs as he assaulted a Black man, per The Root.
On Tuesday (August 23), the U.S. Justice Department announced that Randy Smith pleaded guilty to a 2018 federal hate crime where he made false statements to the FBI to "cover up" the racial intent behind his assault.
The physical altercation unfolded on December 8, 2018, when Smith and other members of Crew 38, a supporter of white nationalist group Hammerskin Nation, gathered at a bar in Lynnwood, Oregon.
According to Smith's plea agreement, the group was sharing Nazi salutes and becoming increasingly rowdy in the bar when a Black man identified as T.S. shooed them away from his DJ equipment.
Smith and other members of white nationalist groups then began to yell racial slurs at T.S. as they punched, kicked, and stomped him with their boots, per the plea agreement.
Days after the brutal beating, Smith denied any racial motivation behind the assault when questioned by FBI agents investigating the hate crime.
“Smith told the FBI agents that he did not remember the racial slurs that he and others used before, during, and after the assault because Smith wanted to cover up the motive for the assault, which was the bias that he and the group had against T.S.’s race,” his plea agreement states.
He now faces up to 10 years in prison for the hate crime charge and an additional five years for making a false statement to the FBI.
Other men involved in the incident including Daniel Delbert Dorson and Jason DeSimas have pleaded guilty to the same charges. A fourth man, Jason Stanley, is set to go to trial over the assault this fall.
In Dorson’s plea agreement, he stated that he “knew and understood that the assault of T.S. by himself and others, including Smith, DeSimas, and Stanley, was because of T.S.’s race as a Black man.”
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