TOLEDO, OH – A wave of street-level hate crashed down on an unsuspecting man in Toledo back in 2016, and today, the perpetrators faced the consequences. Robert Paschalis, 25, and Charles Butler were sentenced to federal prison for a vicious assault fueled by racial animus, the Department of Justice announced today.
The incident unfolded on May 18, 2016, when Paschalis and Butler spotted A.W., an African-American man, unloading his truck. They circled back, abandoned their vehicle, and launched a brutal attack, peppered with racial slurs. Butler escalated the violence by grabbing a broom from the victim’s truck and repeatedly striking him. Paschalis later confessed the attack was motivated solely by A.W.’s race, boasting that he hadn’t yet “earned” the swastika tattoo on his skin like Butler.
The senseless beating only ended when two off-duty police officers intervened, physically pulling Paschalis and Butler away from their victim. A.W. suffered a horrific orbital fracture and significant damage to his right eye. The depravity didn’t stop there. Following the attack, Butler brazenly posted on Facebook celebrating the assault “in the name of the White Race.”
Today, justice – however delayed – was served. Robert Paschalis received a two-year prison sentence, while Charles Butler, deemed the more culpable of the two, will spend seven years behind bars. Both men pleaded guilty in November to violating the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a federal law designed to protect individuals from violence motivated by bias.
“This sentence sends a stern message to those who practice and advocate racial violence,” stated Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja added, “Attacks like these have no place in our society. The victim in this case was minding his own business when he was jumped by two racists. They deserve the prison sentences they received today.”
The investigation was a collaborative effort led by the FBI’s Toledo Resident Agency, alongside the Toledo Police Department and the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman, Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Miller secured the convictions. This case serves as a stark reminder that hate-fueled violence will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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