{"id":42359,"date":"2021-03-23T14:22:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T21:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=42359"},"modified":"2021-03-23T14:22:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T21:22:29","slug":"l-a-gang-member-creeper-sentenced-to-16-years-for-firebombing-black-familys-houses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=42359","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Gang Member “Creeper” Sentenced to 16 Years for Firebombing Black Family’s Houses"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0 Big Hazard street gang leader was sentenced Tuesday to 16 \"\"<\/a>years in federal prison for orchestrating and executing the nighttime firebombing of African American families at the Ramona Gardens Housing Development in Boyle Heights in 2014 in order to force the residents out of their homes, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 U.S District Judge Christina A. Snyder sentenced Carlos Hernandez, 36, aka \u201cRider\u201d and \u201cCreeper.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Judge Snyder said the sentence was intended to \u201csend a message to the community that hate crimes will not be tolerated\u201d and that this was \u201cnot a time for any court to tolerate hate crimes,\u201d according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Hernandez pleaded guilty in April 2019 to five felony counts: conspiracy to violate civil rights, violent crime in aid of racketeering, criminal interference with fair housing rights, use of fire in the commission of a federal felony, and carrying a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendants in this case perpetrated hate crimes that targeted innocent victims in their homes simply because of their skin color,\u201d said Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. \u201cThese despicable acts are simply unacceptable in our society. We are committed to protecting everyone\u2019s civil rights, and anyone who participates in this type of conduct will find that the federal government will marshal all of its resources to ensure they are brought to justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the evening of May 11, 2014, which was Mother\u2019s Day, Hernandez organized and led seven co-defendants \u2013 all members of the Big Hazard street gang \u2013 in a plan to firebomb several apartments in the Ramona Gardens housing complex. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hernandez and his co-defendants targeted each of the residences because African Americans lived there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hernandez divided the defendants into groups to carry out the firebombings, assigned each defendant a specific role within those groups, and provided various defendants with a lighter or hammer to be used in the attacks, as well as masks to conceal their identities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The defendants stashed their cell phones to prevent law enforcement tracking and traveled a predetermined route designed to evade surveillance cameras. Heightening the dangerousness of the attacks, Hernandez armed himself with a semiautomatic handgun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once the gang members located the targeted apartments, they smashed the windows of four apartments to allow for cleaner entry of the firebombs to maximize damage. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hernandez and his co-defendants then threw lit Molotov cocktails into the residences. Three of the four targeted apartments were occupied by African American families who were sleeping at the time of the unprovoked attack. <\/span><\/p>\n

A mother who was sleeping with her infant baby on her chest at the time of the attack barely evaded being hit by a firebomb when she rolled off the couch with her baby after hearing a window shatter, offficials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

A federal task force with numerous federal agencies and local partners was established to investigate the attack, which remained unsolved for two years until prosecutors unsealed the criminal complaints, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All of the defendants who participated in the firebombing were\u00a0charged in 2016<\/a>\u00a0and have pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and related offenses. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those defendants all admitted that they participated in the firebombing attacks because of the victims\u2019 race and color and with the intent to force the victims to move away from the federally funded housing complex.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tuesday’s sentencing hearing follows the sentencing of several other defendants in this case: <\/span><\/p>\n