Brooklyn DA Combats Hate Crimes

By JULIAN CANTRES

A Bushwick man was indicted on 13 felony counts as a hate crime, said Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson on Tuesday as he noted a spike in such incidents in the borough lately and vowed to combat them.

Matthew Smith, 20, and two accomplices were arrested after an incident on the morning of September 27 during which they are charged with yelling homophobic slurs at three men dressed like women and chased them when they tried to run away.

Shortly thereafter, the indictment added, Smith fired six shots from a .40 caliber handgun, hitting one of the victims in the buttocks.

The 13 counts include several counts of assault and attempted murder, all as hate crimes. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. His accomplices, Tavon Johnson and Cody Sigue, were charged with menacing and harassment and face up to a year in prison if convicted.

The number of hate crimes reported in Brooklyn this year has increased 20 percent over the same period last year, Thompson said. The rate has been increasing for four years straight.

At a press conference in a Bushwick park, Thompson described the events leading up to the arrest and indictment and said that the victims “had every right to believe they could safely walk the streets.” He also drew attention to two other hate crimes, including one on October 13 in which four men physically attacked a transgender woman and hit her with a piece of plexiglass.

Thompson said his office had instituted a  hate crimes unit at the end of September, intended to investigate such incidents. Thompson said that such efforts should lead to “a new day here in Brooklyn,” to the applause of the crowd.