Racists pay for their crimes

[kwassa]

As the defendants wept, a Douglas County judge on Monday sentenced two people to lengthy prison terms for their part in disrupting an African-American birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats in 2015.

Superior Court Judge William McClain castigated the two, Kayla Rae Norton, 25, and Jose Ismael Torres, 26, for perpetrating what he called a hate crime.

He sentenced Torres to 20 years, with 13 to serve in prison. Norton was given 15 years, with six to serve. Upon their release, McClain ordered them to be permanently banished from Douglas County.

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Douglas Assistant District Attorney David Emadi detailed how the group had gone on a drunken rampage through Douglas and Paulding counties on July 24 and July 25, 2015, in pickup trucks laden with Confederate battle flags.

Emadi said the group threatened black motorists, yelled at them and walked up to one of their cars with a gun. They also threatened African-American shoppers at a Paulding County Wal-Mart and at a convenience store.

“Many good people in Paulding County saw you for what you are,” McClain said before he handed down the sentences. “Everywhere you went, 911 call centers were flooded with calls.”