ALABAMA – A 28-year-old, resident of Quinton, Alabama, admitted to threatening a black man at the Alabama Rose Steakhouse, a restaurant in Quinton, because the man was with a white woman on June 14, 2013,, federal officials said. The couple left the restaurant bar soon after the threat.
Jeremy Heath Higgins, 28, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of federal civil rights violations, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division last week.
“Threatening an individual over their race or a business for its acceptance of others has no place in a civilized society,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Molly Moran for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute those who seek to intimidate others with these types of hateful threats.”
The manager confronted Higgins because of incident and ordered him to leave, according to court evidence. As Higgins was being escorted from the bar, officials said he used racial slurs, shouted a racial slur at the restaurant manager and threatened to burn down the restaurant.
Later that evening, Higgins returned to the restaurant and threatened the restaurant manager by painting graffiti on the restaurant’s front exterior and fence, officials said.
“Access to public places, like restaurants, has been at the core of the civil rights struggle,” said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance for the Northern District of Alabama. “Unlike the lunch counters of the 1960s, the restaurant in this case welcomed and sought to protect the rights of its African American customer. In prosecuting this case, we make clear our commitment to enforcing the civil rights of individuals and the businesses who seek to serve all, without regard to the color of their skin.”
Sentencing is set for Jan. 9.