News Roundup for August 25, 2011

Prosecutors in Muscogee County, Ga., indicted a man for assault they allege is connected to the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Authorities say that Michael Carothers, 31, allegedly pulled up alongside an African-American man who was walking and pepper sprayed him. Carothers is known for passing out National Alliance literature, and is facing up to 20 years in prison for the attack.

A man in Portland, Ore., has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly firebombing a mosque in Corvallis, Ore. Cody Crawford is accused of the attack on the mosque, only a block away from his home, which had once been attended by a suspected attempted bomber.

A lesbian couple in Harlan County, Ky., is asking the federal government to investigate a possible hate crime against them. The couple alleges that while they attended a Fourth of July fireworks display with their family, including their children, a group of people began shooting fireworks at them, burning one victim’s grandmother. After one victim’s father attempted to approach the group, people in the crowd began to attack her and her partner, resulting in serious injuries to both.

Police in Port Orange, Fla., are searching for a grandmother accused of kidnapping her grandson, and who may be dangerous. According to police, Laurine Sue Arnold, 49, is believed to be a “sovereign citizen” and may be uncooperative if found. Arnold was allegedly not allowed to see her grandson, and is also wanted on an unrelated charge of resisting arrest.

Authorities in Waterloo, Iowa, have announced that they will not seek hate crimes charges in the death of a 19-year-old African-American teen. The victim was allegedly beaten in front of a friend’s house by a group of individuals, and later died at a local hospital. The friends of the victim claim it was a hate crime due to his being called gay slurs. Police say previous animosities between the two sides caused the taunting and fight.