{"id":59510,"date":"2025-08-19T18:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T01:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59510"},"modified":"2025-08-19T18:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T01:22:08","slug":"north-carolina-man-pleads-guilty-to-federal-hate-crime-after-ar-15-threat-at-pizza-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59510","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime After AR-15 Threat at Pizza Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"203\" data-end=\"441\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>CHARLOTTE, N.C<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"203\" data-end=\"441\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14844 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/FBI-Logo-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"La Cosa Nostra Convicted Felon Admits to Drug, Prostitution and Weapons Charges\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/FBI-Logo-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/FBI-Logo-45x35.jpg 45w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/FBI-Logo.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Maurice Hopkins, 32, of Mt. Holly, pleaded guilty in federal court to a civil rights violation after threatening eight people at a Charlotte pizza restaurant because of their race, religion, color, and national origin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">According to arrest warrants, Hopkins went into the store and started making racial comments to a group of Indian patrons. An unnamed person intervened and asked him to leave, to which Hopkins said they would have to call the police to make him leave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Hopkins said he \u201chad something for them\u201d and was going to \u201cgrab his AR,\u201d the warrants say. He then left. When Hopkins came back in a Toyota Corolla, someone outside spotted him with an assault rifle, and the bystander ran to distract Hopkins from going inside. Hopkins then pointed the gun at the person. He said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m back for my pizza; now give me my (expletive) pizza\u201d while gesturing with the rifle toward the store.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"771\" data-end=\"1073\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Hopkins admitted in court that he targeted the victims while they were using the restaurant\u2019s services. He pleaded guilty to one count of interference with federally protected activities, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. Hopkins remains in custody; a sentencing date has not been set.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1075\" data-end=\"1250\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The FBI Charlotte Field Office investigated the case. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1075\" data-end=\"1250\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller and DOJ Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Chloe Neely are prosecuting.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. Maurice Hopkins, 32, of Mt. Holly, pleaded guilty in federal court to a civil rights violation after threatening eight people at a Charlotte pizza restaurant because of their race, religion,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime After AR-15 Threat at Pizza Shop<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CHARLOTTE, N.C. 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