'Disturbing spike' in threats, hate crimes in Florida, U.S. Attorney says
ORLANDO, Fla. - U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Roger B. Handberg, says his office has seen a "disturbing spike" in hate crimes and threats since officially taking on the role in December 2022.
"When I started as a federal prosecutor, a lot of our threat cases involved threats against judges," Handberg said in an exclusive interview with FOX 35's Pattrik Perez.
But over the years, he says, the nature of those threats has changed.
"We're seeing cases against people because of their race. We're seeing … threats against people because of their sexual orientation, because of their religion, because of the position they hold," Handberg said.
Of the more than 25 cases his office has prosecuted recently, one of them involves the case of two brothers from Citrus County.
In January 2023, Roy and Robert Lashley were convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Citrus County sheriff's deputies say the pair beat up a Black man outside a store in Citrus Springs in November 2021 because of the color of his skin and also called him racial slurs.
"When you hear about that crime, you might think we're talking about some era in our distant past, but it's something that happened rather recently," Handberg said.
In December 2022, federal investigators looked into the case of former Full Sail University student Sean Michael Albert, who posted a photo of a gun on the Discord platform and threatened to shoot up LGBTQ people at Florida State University.
He told FBI agents "he did not believe his post was illegal" and that it was meant to be "‘ironic,’ ‘satirical,’ and ‘a joke,'" according to court documents. But it was no laughing matter.
'We are going to take you at your word. If you say you're going to kill somebody, we're going to assume that you're trying to do what you say you're trying to do, and we're going to act accordingly," Handberg said. "You can't hide behind your keyboard. You can't hide behind your phone."
Albert was convicted last September and sentenced to time served. For the next 2.5 years, he’ll have to get permission to use a computer or cell phone, according to court documents.
FOX 35 looked into FBI data for the latest reporting year, 2022. It shows 155 reports of hate crimes in Florida. That's not too different from 10 years prior when law enforcement agencies in Florida reported 144 hate crimes.
Nationally, the Sunshine State ranks 22nd in hate crime reports, based on 2022 numbers from the FBI.
Despite the frequency and changing nature of the hate crimes and threats, and the technology some criminals are using to make it harder to track them, Handberg says solving these cases remains a top priority for his office.
"I've got over 140 lawyers in my office, and I'm willing to dedicate every single one of them to running down these threats and prosecuting them and disrupting these schemes," he said.