An African American man who allegedly shot and wounded five White men in Phenix City, Alabama and nearby Columbus, Georgia last weekend could face federal hate crimes charges.
This, according to Phenix City Assistant Police Chief George Staudinger.
“The FBI has taken some interest in it because of the hate crimes nature of it. And talking with our investigators there was some motivation that the victims were targeted by race, and so that is being looked at right now,” Staudinger said.
“My understanding is the FBI was interested in that, and they are interested in pursuing charges, and it is being investigated by the Auburn, Alabama field office of the FBI.”
Members of the Auburn FBI Field Office did not answer the phone when The Georgia Star News called Wednesday.
Phenix City and Columbus are adjacent to one another and separated by the Chattahoochee River.
Various media outlets identified the alleged shooter as Justin Tyran Roberts, 39. The Columbus-Ledger Enquirer reported Roberts allegedly shot and wounded five people, all White. Roberts reportedly said White men had wronged him his entire life.
Staudinger said Roberts is currently in the Muscogee County, Georgia jail. He also said officials in Alabama have an attempted murder warrant on Roberts.
“If and when he is ever finished with the state crimes in Georgia then we would extradite him to Alabama to face our charge of attempted murder,” Staudinger said.
“If the feds and the FBI get involved and charge him with a hate crime then they may just adopt all of the cases.”
Officials with the Columbus Police Department did not return The Stars’ requests for comment Wednesday.
Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones, who oversees the Georgia side of the case, said Wednesday that hate crimes charges could also apply at the state level — if jury members give consent.
“In Georgia if the crime is one of certain misdemeanors that involve violence or a felony and it’s motivated by bias or prejudice toward a group of people who are protected like race, religion, gender, those sorts of things, and the jury finds that the crime was motivated by bias or prejudice toward one of those groups then the judge has to sentence the defendant to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment,” Jones said.
“It’s no less than two years in prison if it’s a felony. I think it is six to 12 months minimum if it’s a misdemeanor. In the event of a conviction, we would be seeking to sentence him under Georgia’s hate crimes bill, which was passed last year. But it’s not like a separate crime as I read the statute. It’s more like an added sentencing enhancement to make sure that the person goes to prison if they do one of these things instead of probation or something of that nature.”
Russell County, Alabama District Attorney Kenneth Davis said his state has its own hate crimes statute.
Jones, meanwhile, said this office is “going to throw the book” at Roberts.
“He basically terrorized Columbus, Georgia over the weekend,” Jones said.
“He had everybody in fear of getting shot, and he needs to be held fully accountable. That would include any sort of applicable hate crimes and sentencing enhancements or any applicable charges.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
