TAMPA, Fla. — Two Pasco County men have been indicted on federal hate-crime charges after authorities said they built a cross and burned it in front of an interracial couple’s home.
According to a federal indictment, the incident happened after William A. Dennis, 55, and Thomas Herris Sigler III, 45, took offense at the couple moving in next to the latter’s home.
In 2012, Dennis and Sigler were living on Seward Drive in Port Richey when the couple moved in next to Sigler, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release.
“The men repeatedly made racial slurs and racially derogatory statements to the African-American neighbor, which escalated to verbal and physical threats,” the release said.
On Halloween night, the two men were at a party where they and several other Seward Drive residents “conspired to burn a cross in the African-American man’s yard to intimidate him,” the DOJ said.
The group built the cross and poured flammable liquid on it before leaning it against the victims’ mailbox and lighting it on fire, investigators said.
“Hate-motivated crimes will not be tolerated in our community,” U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley said. “This case underscores our commitment to prosecute those who commit crimes driven by hatred or intolerance.”
Dennis and Sigler were charged with conspiracy to interfere with an interracial couple’s enjoyment of their constitutionally protected housing rights.
Dennis was also charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement officers.
The DOJ did not say why it took nearly four years for the indictment to be filed.
Cox Media Group
