2 whites sentenced on hate crime charge in black man attack

TOLEDO, Ohio – Two white Ohio men who attacked and beat a stranger because he was black have pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime charge and have been sentenced to prison.

Authorities say the beating left the man’s eye and eye socket bone damaged.

A judge in Toledo on Wednesday sentenced Charles Butler Jr. to seven years in prison and Robert Paschalis to two years.

Paschalis said he and Butler drove past the black man while he was unloading his truck in Toledo last May and returned and attacked him while yelling racial slurs.

Authorities say Butler later wrote on social media the attack was “in the name of the white race.”

Police say two off-duty state troopers happened by and pulled the attackers away.