A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday to two federal hate crimes for attacking two Black women with a gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the plea agreement, using force or a threat of force, Frederick Eugene Pierallini III, 27, willfully intimidated the victims and interfered with their enjoyment of federally protected activities because of their race and color. Victim 1 was enjoying her private employment, and Victim 2 was enjoying a facility provided by the state of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifically, on Sept. 10, 2022, Pierallini went to Daily\u2019s Place, a convenience store, located at 620 Chaffee Road South in Jacksonville, Florida. Victim 1 was working there as a clerk at the register. Pierallini attempted to buy snacks at the register, but his card was declined. He then attempted to walk out of the store with unpaid merchandise. Pierallini ultimately returned, scolding Victim 1 for not knowing how to do her job and directing racial slurs at her. Pierallini left the store, retrieved a shotgun from his car, pointed it at Victim 1 and cocked it by pulling the slide back to open the chamber and load a bullet into it. Victim 1 ran away in fear. Pierallini used racial slurs throughout the encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two days later, on Sept. 12, 2022, Pierallini approached Victim 2 as she was sitting in her walker on the public sidewalk near 1571 University Boulevard West. He directed racial slurs at her and told her that she could not sit where she was. Pierallini also threatened to kill Victim 2. He then left, returned with a shotgun and fired a single shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe defendant is being held accountable for targeting two Black women with a gun on two separate days because of their race and because they were engaging in federally protected activities,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division. \u201cRacially motivated threats and acts of violence have no place in our society today. The Justice Department stands ready to investigate and prosecute individuals who target Black people with threats and acts of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe defendant in this case committed a vile assault on two women with a dangerous weapon because of their race,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. \u201cThese actions were repugnant and endangered the women\u2019s and the public\u2019s safety. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to counter crimes like these with the full force of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInvestigating these acts and seeking justice remains a top priority for the FBI and our partners because hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim \u2013 they are meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks of the FBI Jacksonville Field Office. \u201cThere is no place for hate and racism, and no one should ever fear they could be targeted in an act of violence based on how they look, where they\u2019re from or any part of their identity. The team at FBI Jacksonville is proud to work alongside our partners at the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office to protect all members of this community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. For each count, Pierallini faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, three years of mandatory supervised release and a fine up to $250,000. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Handberg and Special Agent in Charge Onks made the announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FBI Jacksonville Field Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office investigated the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Washington for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Anna Gotfryd of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday to two federal hate crimes for attacking two Black women with a gun. According to the plea agreement, using force or a threat of force, Frederick Eugene Pierallini III, 27, willfully intimidated the victims and interfered with their enjoyment of federally protected activities because of their race and color. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3997],"tags":[3999,4000,3998],"class_list":{"0":"post-2952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-duval-county","9":"tag-hate-crimes","10":"tag-jacksonville"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2953,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2952\/revisions\/2953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/politicalbourbon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}