Detroit Man Sentenced for Threatening Couple Because of Their Race

Glenn E. Morgan, Jr., 41, of Detroit, was sentenced by United States District Judge Robert H. Cleland to three months’ incarceration followed by two years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to sending a threatening communication through the mail to a Detroit couple, Barbara L. McQuade, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, and Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, announced today. They were joined in the announcement by Andrew Arena, Special Agent In Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Detroit, Michigan.

In addition to imprisonment, Judge Cleland also ordered Morgan to 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine.

In November, 2008, Morgan mailed a noose, photographs of black men being lynched, and a photograph of the murdered body of Nicole Brown Simpson to the couple because of their race. The envelope Morgan sent to the couple also contained threatening written messages indicating that black men who marry white women should be lynched and that white women who marry black men will share Nicole Brown Simpson’s fate.

United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade said, “The law protects people from threats and harassment based on their race, and we will prosecute anyone who seeks to racially intimidate members of our community.”

“Threats based on race have no place in our country,” Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The department will aggressively prosecute those who threaten a person solely based on the color of their skin.”

Andrew Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Detroit, Michigan said, “This sentencing should send as a strong message that hate crimes will be investigated vigorously and those responsible for these heinous acts will be brought to justice.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Pamela Thompson from the United States Attorney’s Office, and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel from the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.