LOUISIANA – A man who used racial slurs and assaulted two black female hurricane relief workers plead guilty Wednesday to two counts of federal civil rights violations, federal officials said.
As part of his plea agreement, Josh Jambon, 52, admitted that he assaulted two female blacks who were working on Hurricane Isaac relief efforts because of their race and because of where they worked, authorities said.
On Sept. 18, 2012, Jambon, of Grand Isle, Louisiana, approached a work crew tasked with cleaning up debris from Hurricane Isaac.
During a heated confrontation, Jambon spotted two black female workers who were taking a break and called them racial slurs, including the N-word and “monkeys,” court records said. He also referred to the two women as “lazy … sitting under the tree,” according to the Times Picayune news.
He approached one of the victims. and hit her in the face, because of her race and because she worked with the work crew, then proceeded to assault M.R. in the same manner, authorities said.
When Jambon saw a third crew member, B.W., filming the incident on her cell phone, Jambon initiated a physical struggle with B.W. in an attempt to take her cell phone so that he could delete the video.
“Hate-fueled violence has no place in a civilized society,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to using all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to prosecute acts motivated by racial bias.”
Jambon faces up to a year in prison for each of the two criminal counts and a $100,000 fine.