Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is filing his office’s first hate crime lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in Carroll County against a mother and adult son who allegedly spent months harassing their black neighbor. Raoul says this included hanging a bound and chained effigy of their neighbor from a tree in their front yard.
“We feel that in combination with swastikas’ and confederate flags aimed towards their neighbors aimed to intimidate their neighbors who had filed a complaint about them for damage to property.”
The suit seeks civic penalties and equitable relief. Raoul says he will continue to prosecute hate crimes and send a message that hate and bigotry will not be tolerated in Illinois.
