A Florida man was charged with a federal hate crime on Wednesday for a murder he committed while staying in the Kansas City, Missouri, area, according to authorities.
A federal grand jury in Kansas City returned an indictment charging Sean Walter Tonkin, 36, with committing a racially motivated hate crime that resulted in death at the time of the alleged offense while he was staying at a nearby motel.
Tonkin is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The indictment alleges that Tonkin, armed with a knife and knuckles, approached a Black man, J.M.R., on July 4.
Unprovoked, Tonkin allegedly directed racial epithets and threats toward J.M.R. and ultimately stabbed him twice in the chest and abdomen, resulting in J.M.R.’s death. The indictment alleges that Tonkin attacked J.M.R. because of his race.
The FBI Kansas City Field Office is investigating the case.
Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark for the Western District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Eric Peffley of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.