South Carolina Man Sentenced for Committing Federal Hate Crime Against an African-American Teenager

WASHINGTON—Chase McClary, 24, of Johnsonville, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court to four years in prison, followed by three years’ supervised release, for his racially motivated attack of an African-American teenager.

In June 2012, McClary pleaded guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by violently assaulting an African-American teenager. During his guilty plea, McClary admitted that in August 2010, he approached a 16-year-old African-American male and struck him numerous times with the jagged end of a broken coffee mug because of the victim’s race. The attack resulted in severe injuries to the victim’s head, face, and neck.

“The Department of Justice is committed to aggressively prosecuting hate-fueled acts of violence,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Today’s sentence makes clear that racially motivated attacks will not be tolerated in this country.”

“Working with the Civil Rights Division, this U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to prioritize the prosecution of hate crimes and other civil rights violations in the District of South Carolina,” said William N. Nettles, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

This case was investigated by Special Agent Steven Stokes of the FBI, with assistance from the Florence County Sheriff’s Investigator Alvin Powell, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Parham and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Christopher Lomax.