Northern California First in Region to Issue Sentence Under Hate Crime Law
A man on probation for a racially motivated attack in 2018 has become the first person sentenced under the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act for attacking a Black man last year. This is the perpetrator's fourth attack against a Black person in the last seven years, landing him 82 months in prison.
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The Northern District of California sentenced Ole Hougen to nearly six years in federal prison for viciously attacking a Black man in September 2020, the first person in that region to be sentenced under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed into law in 2009, reports Newsone. The hate crime offender slashed the man nearly 20 times with a nine-inch blade in the head and chest during a brutal attack in Santa Cruz.
At the time, Hougen was on probation from another racially motivated attack that he committed in 2018 involving a different Black male victim. The DOJ noted that this was Hougen’s fourth attack against a Black person in the last seven years. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act allows the federal government to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. The law also “ensures that crimes that target their victims because of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability are all covered by the law.” Hougen will serve 82 months in prison with three years of post-release supervision.
