White couple jailed for total of 28 years for storming black child’s eighth birthday party while screaming the N-word and waving confederate flags
Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton yelled racial slurs & threatened to kill partygoers – including the kids
BY YASMIN JEFFERY, The Sun
A YOUNG white couple wept openly as they were handed lengthy prison terms for crashing a black child’s birthday party with confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats.
Jose Ismael Torres, 26, was slapped with a 13-year sentence, while his partner Kayla Rae Norton, 25, will spend six years behind bars for the hate crime.
Kayla Rae Norton, 25, and her partner Jose Ismael Torres, 26, crashed a child’s birthday party to issue armed threats, wave confederate flags and yell racial slurs racists.
The young white couple wept openly at court as they were sentenced for hate crime at
eight-year-old’s birthday party
Torres, left, was handed a 20-year sentence with 13 years behind bars, while Norton, right,
was given 15 with six to serve in jail
The pair antagonized a family celebrating their son’s eighth birthday party by driving with a caravan of trucks waving confederate flags in Douglasville, Georgia, in 2015.
The couple, who were members of a group called “Respect the Flag”, shouted at adults and children at the party that they would “kill y’all n*****s” while brandishing the flags.
After interrupting the party, they went on to terrorise a nearby Wal-Mart and off licence.
Upon their release from jail, the pair have been barred from Douglas County.
Jose Ismael Torres only cried when members of his family described him as a devoted father in court
racist
Kayla Rae Norton took the stand to apologise for her actions in 2015
Speaking to the court, Judge William McClain said: "Their actions were motivated by racial hatred.”
Torres and Norton were the last of 15 people charged in the confrontation, which took place in July 2015.
The couple were found guilty of yelling racial slurs and threatening to kill partygoers – including the kids.
Prosecutors said Torres even pointed a shotgun at the party.
Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in a statement: "This is behaviour that even supporters of the confederate battle flag can agree is criminal and shouldn't be allowed.”
You sure about that?
Norton was sentenced on one count of violating Georgia’s street gang act, and one count of making threats of a terrorist nature.
Speaking through her tears, Norton told the court: “I do accept responsibility for what I’ve done.”
Addressing her victims, she added: “What happened to you is absolutely awful."
Might have been more convincing if she had said something like, "What I did to you..." Saying, 'what happened to you' is not taking personal responsibility. It makes it sound like an accident, or something someone else did.
How is the confederate flag a symbol of racism?
While the confederate flag may have started out as a symbol of succession, it was also the brand to display white power. It was first sewn for an army that fought to preserve the legally sanctioned slavery of African Americans in the US.
Many activists, politicians and citizens want to get rid of it, citing it as a symbol of racism and hate. According to a poll conducted in 2015, around half of all Americans view the flag as a quintessentially racist symbol.
That percentage has probably increased because of these people's idiocy.
“From mother to mother, I cannot imagine having to explain what that word means."
“The worst decision I’ve ever made in my life was to not walk away when I had the chance.”
Norton and Torres have three children together.
Torres only burst into tears when three of his family members described him as a devoted father, hard worker and volunteer in court.
Forgiveness ... partygoer Hyesha Bryant told the court she has forgiven the couple for hate crime
He was sentenced on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of making threats of a terrorist nature, and one of violating the street gang act.
Speaking to the court, partygoer Hyesha Bryant told the couple she forgave them for the hate crime.
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