A judge this week sentenced a man on federal hate crime charges to 37 years in prison for a murder on Christmas Eve in 2015 in Dallas.
Anthony Paz Torres opened fire at a tire shop, killing one and attempting to kill four others. The attack occurred at a Muslim-owned business where a week earlier he had gone on an anti-Muslim rant.
“As this sentence makes clear, hate crimes fueled by Islamophobia, or by bias of any kind, will be met with the full force of the Justice Department,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement to WOAI. “No person in this country should have to live in fear because of who they are, what they look like, or how they pray.”
Torres pleaded guilty to five hate crime charges in September, the New Arab reports.
FBI director Christopher Wray believes Torres intentionally targetted Muslims.
“This case is an abhorrent example of how deadly Islamophobia can be in our own country and the severe consequences that wait for anyone who commits acts of hateful violence,” Wray said.
Torres had intended to shoot Muslims, but ended up killing a bystander, 25-year-old Enrique Garcia Mendoza.
He is already serving a 35-year sentence for that murder.
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Excellent. Wish the same comments and punishments were meted out for anti-Asian hate crimes.