The incident, which took place in Texas, saw Conrad Alvin Barrett, hit then 79-year-old Roy Coleman in the face after randomly selecting him to be on the receiving end of an unprovoked punch.
In the November 2013 video filmed by Barrett, who was 27 at the time, approached the elderly man, yelled “Knockout,” and ran to his car once the man fell to the ground. Coleman, who was walking near his home in Katy, suffered two jaw fractures as a result of the attack.
Barrett’s assault on the senior citizen was one he was proud of as days later; he showed the violent footage to patrons in a bar, one of whom happened to be an off-duty police officer.
The next month Barrett, who said he committed the attack to see if the fallout would be nationally televised, was charged with a hate crime. Court documents showed that the Texas man had choice views on African-Americans as his phone was filled with videos laden with “racist remarks, slurs and stereotypes” in addition to discussion of the knockout game itself.
Though his lawyer argued that his client was bipolar and under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs when he assaulted the older man, a judge sentenced Barrett to 71 months in prison last week.
Coleman’s lawyer said that the victim is satisfied with the ruling however, more needs to be done. “We’re very, very happy about it. Some justice happened today but we still need some justice on the civil side.”
Upon his release from prison, Barrett is required to pay a $2,000 restitution fee and will be supervised by officials for three years.
No comments:
Post a Comment