Monday, January 14, 2013

6th Miss. man pleads guilty in attacks on blacks | theGrio

6th Miss. man pleads guilty in attacks on blacks | theGrio: JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A sixth man has pleaded guilty in connection with racially motivated attacks by young whites against blacks in Jackson.

Joseph Paul Dominick, 21, of Brandon pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit a hate crime. He faces up to five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves will sentence him later.

Prosecutors say that starting about April 2011, the group drove from mostly white Rankin County into the city of Jackson, where they verbally harassed and physically assaulted blacks and later boasted about the attacks.

The attacks culminated in the death of James Craig Anderson in June 2011, which sparked the investigation. Prosecutors say Dominick did not participate in the slaying but was part of other group attacks.

Prosecutors say Dominick threw bottles and used sling shots against blacks.