JACKSON, Miss.–You probably remember the 2011 death of James Craig Anderson, a black man who was run down by three white men in a pickup truck in the capital city. Now four more people have been charged with hate crimes in related incidents.
The four are accused of throwing beer bottles and using slingshots loaded with ball bearings to hurt African-Americans, according to federal court papers. The indictment says the four patrolled the area looking for black people to hurt.
They mainly looked for people who were homeless or who were drunk or high, or otherwise defenseless.
Shelby Richards, Robert Rice, Sarah Graves and John Blaylack all pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to conspiracy to commit hate crimes, Blaylack is charged with four hate crimes and using a firearm in commission of those crimes. Rice is charged with two hate crimes.
The four were granted bond at $100,000.
Deryl Dedmon is serving a life sentence in the death of Anderson. He was driving the truck that ran him over. Dylan Butler and John Aaron Rice also pleaded guilty in 2012 to federal charges related to Anderson’s death.
