Kansas man charged with hate crime following racially motivated threat

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (WIBW) - A Kansas man has been charged with a hate crime for alleged racially motivated threats.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister says the Justice Department announced on Monday that a federal grand jury in Kansas City returned an indictment charging Colton Donner, 25, with threatening an African American juvenile male due to his race and living in a home in Paola in violation of Title 42, U.S. Code, Section 3631.

According to McAllister, for a separate incident, Donner was also charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm while being a convicted felon.

McAllister said the indictment alleges that Donner shouted racial slurs and brandished a knife at the victim in Paola. He said it also alleges that Donner, knowing he was a convicted felon, possessed a .44 caliber revolver.

“Our office will protect the federal rights of all people, regardless of race, to live peacefully in Paola or anywhere else in Kansas,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister. “Freedom of speech does not give anyone license to wield a weapon and threaten others because of race. Racial intimidation must have no place in America and cannot be tolerated or ignored.”

According to McAllister, the Kansas City Field Office of the FBI investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati will be prosecuting.