The FBI and County Attorney John Burlew concluded that two juveniles were guilty of committing an intentional hate crime against an Afghan refugee in January 2022. The juveniles cited their affiliation with the National Partisan Movement as a motive, according to Burlew.
According to Burlew, the FBI gave him the evidence roughly six months ago when prosecuting the case. The evidence reports that three juveniles were involved in the incident, but Burlew said they only decided to charge two juveniles.
The evidence and previous reporting cite that two refugees were walking from the gym to the Comfort Inn and Suites on Salem Drive, the temporary home for the refugees upon coming to Owensboro. While walking, the two passed the 3 juveniles who then pepper sprayed one of the refugees.
According to Burlew, the evidence showed the juveniles “had mentioned the movement, at the very least, and communicated with members of the movement.” Burlew described the National Partisan Movement as “some underground extremist movement.”
With this and the evidence compiled, Burlew said this was intentional.
“It was not a random attack. It was a targeted attack on someone because of their apparent ethnicity. But do I think they knew specifically who this person was, like his name and information? No. But I think the evidence showed that they knew that there was an ethnic group residing at this hotel that turned out to be Afghan refugees, and the refugees got targeted because of that,” Burlew said.
Burlew noted the juveniles admitted they pepper sprayed the individual out of hate. This marks the first time Burlew has prosecuted a case that was an admitted hate crime.
“In my 16 years of prosecuting, it’s the first time that I recall actually dealing with an actual hate crime. In other words, the judge found, and they admitted to a hate crime,” Burlew said.
Burlew said he believes the National Partisan Movement is an international movement but does not believe this incident reflects Owensboro.
“Do I think it’s a big thing in Owensboro? No. I think it’s a bigger thing when you get to bigger cities,” Burlew said. “I think Owensboro is a relatively safe place to live, and I don’t think that we’re a hub for racially motivated crimes. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident.”
The juveniles, whose names will not be released per Kentucky State statute, were initially charged with Wanton Endangerment, 1st Degree, but ultimately charged and convicted of Wanton Endangerment, 2nd Degree – which is a misdemeanor.
With this charge, the two currently serve 30 days in juvenile detention. Burlew said he feels the detention sentencing is “fair” and “significant” given the difficulty of keeping juveniles in detention.
“I’m happy with the outcome,” Burlew said. “…I thought 30 days was fair under these circumstances if that makes sense, and I hope these two juveniles learn from it, become adults, and move on.”
