A Superior Court judge sentenced Kayla Rae Norton and Jose Ismael Torres to 15 and 20 years in prison respectively, calling the disruption a hate crime. The two offenders will also be “permanently banished” from Douglas County.
During the birthday party incident, Norton and Torres were part of a convoy of pickup trucks, decked out with Confederate flags, that cruised by the party. People from the convoy shouted slurs at partygoers and pointed guns at them.
Both Norton and Torres were convicted of violating the state’s street gang act and making terroristic threats. Torres was also convicted of an additional three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (even though a weapon was never fired).
Prosecutors and the judge really threw the book at couple, who share three kids but aren’t married. The sentencing may go down as the harshest punishment meted out for ruining a party in US history. You can get less time for murdering someone. During their sentencing, Norton and Torres wept uncontrollably in court.
In the video you can see Norton and Torres with their group “Respect the Flag” apparently taunting and yelled racial epithets at the child’s birthday party group.
The incident was part of a two day drunken demonstration by the group which had been holding a “Respect the Flag” rally to defend the Confederate flag, which at the time was the object of national opprobrium due to the massacre of black churchgoers that had just happened in nearby Charleston, SC. According to the District Attorney, the rally goers also threatened African American motorists and one of the group’s members approached a car with a gun. They also threatened black shoppers at a local Walmart and convenience store.
In justifying his long sentences, the judge cited the crimes’ proximity to the Charleston church massacre.
