A Florida man has been convicted of a hate crime for a road rage incident in 2021, according to the Department of Justice. He hopped out his car, thinking he could just run up on the Black driver and assault him. Little did he know, the driver was a mixed martial artist and put him in a chokehold. None of this would’ve happened if he had just minded his damn business.
According to the Miami Herald, the Black driver, named J.T. on court documents, was driving on a road with his girlfriend and 4-year-old daughter when Jordan Leahy zoomed up next to their vehicle. Court documents say Leahy made shooting gestures at them while shouting racial slurs. He swerved in their lane trying to run them off the road, continued to tailgate them for a mile and then side-swiped their car.
Leahy fled the scene but J.T. followed him.
Read more on the incident from NBC News:
J.T. caught up with Leahy, pulling up behind him at a red light, officials said. Leahy then “got out of his car, stormed at J.T., and tried to assault him, again yelling racial slur,” the release said.
Leahy attempted to strike J.T., but he didn’t know J.T. is a practicing mixed-martial artist, who was able to swiftly put Leahy in a chokehold until he was unconscious and restrained him until police could arrive, court documents show.
When officers from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrived, they said Leahy made “numerous statements evidencing his bias motive,” including saying Black people need to be kept “in their areas,” the release said.
Kept in our areas?! J.T. and his family did nothing to Leahy. Black people can’t even mind their own business in peace.
“Across America, families must be able to freely travel our public streets without fear of being attacked because of race,” said Assistant Attorney General Clarke from the Justice Department. “This verdict should send a strong message that the Department of Justice remains firmly committed to prosecuting, to the fullest extent of the law, those who would use violence to enforce heinous racist beliefs.”
People still think they can get away with acts of hate. According to the DOJ, Leahy faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 - all of which would have been avoided if he just kept on driving.