A New Jersey resident was sentenced Tuesday to 366 days in prison for his role in conspiring with members of a hate group to threaten and intimidate black and Jewish people, according to the Justice Department.
Richard Tobin, 20, admitted to being a member of a white supremacist group known as “The Base,” records and statements made in court show. From Sept. 15 to 23, 2019, he communicated online with other members and directed them to destroy and vandalize properties affiliated with black and Jewish people, the DOJ said. Group members spray-painted hate symbols on synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, on Sept. 21, 2019, according to the documents.
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“Richard Tobin encouraged hateful acts of violence against individuals and their houses of worship, based on their religion or the color of their skin,” said acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig of the District of New Jersey. “Justice demanded that he be held accountable for these racist and anti-Semitic actions, and we are proud to have joined with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in doing so in this case. Our commitment to protecting the civil rights of all in New Jersey is steadfast.”
Tobin previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler to information charging him with conspiracy against rights, the department’s statement said. In addition to serving his prison sentence, Tobin was sentenced to three years of supervised release, officials added.
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division Jacqueline Maguire said Tobin’s “white supremacist beliefs,” while “abhorrent,” were not why he was sentenced. Once he conspired with others to commit violence against others because of their race and religious beliefs, that was when he “crossed a line,” Maguire said.
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The special agent in charge said the FBI would always “pursue individuals inciting violent, hateful acts meant to intimidate and isolate members of our community.”
Hate crimes in the United States were on the rise in 2020, with 8,052 single-bias incidents reported, 5,227 of which were incidents motivated over race and ethnicity, an increase compared to 2019. While religious hate crimes decreased in 2020 at 1,244 incidents, they still made up 13.3% of incidents that year, and hate crimes motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry increased by nearly 1,300 as compared with 2019, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
