TENNESSEE – A former member of the Church of the National Knights, a Ku Klux Klan affiliate, was sentenced to nine months and fined $5,000 for cross burning in front of an interracial family’s house in Minor Hill, Tennessee, officials announced Friday.
Timothy Flanagan, 33, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with others to threaten, intimidate and interfere with an African-American man’s enjoyment of his housing rights, and one count of interfering with those housing rights, according to authorities.
Flanagan admitted during the plea hearing that on the night of April 30, 2012, he and two other individuals devised a plan to burn a cross in the yard of an African American man in Minor Hill, Tennessee, officials said.
Flanagan’s co-conspirator, Timothy Stafford, constructed a wooden cross in a workshop behind his house.
Using Flanagan’s credit card, Stafford and co-conspirator Ivan “Rusty” London then purchased diesel-fuel with which to soak the cross, according to authorities.
Officials said Flanagan and the other co-conspirators then drove the cross to the victim’s residence and, upon arriving at the residence, Flanagan and London exited the truck.
The cross was placed in the driveway leading up to the house and was ignited. The co-conspirators burned the cross with the purpose of intimidating the African-American male who resided at that residence.
Timothy Stafford, 41, of Minor Hill, Tennessee, and Ivan “Rusty” London IV, 21, of Lexington, Kentucky, previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy, and will be sentenced on March 3, and March 26, respectively, according to officials.
“Hate-motivated crimes will not be tolerated in our country,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute individuals that violate the rights of others because of race.”
“There can be no tolerance for such acts of intimidation when innocent persons are targeted simply because of their race,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera.