Michael Atkinson, 24, plead guilty Thursday to kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection with his involvement in a scheme to target gay men for violent crimes, according to officials.
“The Department of Justice will continue to protect individuals and communities from violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department will continue to bring perpetrators of hate crimes to justice.”
“The Northern District of Texas will not tolerate criminals who single out victims based on their sexual orientation,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time we’ve seen despicable crimes committed on apps like Grindr. I want to urge the public to be vigilant online and recognize the dangers that are lurking there.”
According to the plea agreement, Atkinson admitted to joining a conspiracy to use Grindr, a social media dating platform, to lure gay men to areas around Dallas, including a vacant apartment, for robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, and hate crimes.
On Dec. 11, 2017, Atkinson reached out to one co-conspirator and asked to join the conspiracy.
Following this conversation, Atkinson brought a loaded handgun to a vacant apartment where the victims were being held captive, according to officials.
Upon arriving at the apartment, Atkinson learned that a co-conspirator had sexually assaulted at least one of the victims and that a co-conspirator had wiped human feces on and urinated on another victim.
Atkinson remained with the conspirators and allowed a co-conspirator to use his handgun to hold victims in the apartment against their will. Atkinson and a co-conspirator then took one of these victims at gunpoint to the victim’s home in an attempt to steal the victim’s property.
According to the plea papers, Atkinson witnessed a co-conspirator assault one victim and call the victim gay slurs. In addition, Atkinson admitted to going to local ATMs to withdraw cash from the victims’ accounts.
Atkinson could get a sentence of life in prison if convicted of the kidnapping charge.