A Colorado man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to a hate crime earlier this year.
Nolan Levi Strauss, 27, stabbed a Black man in an unprovoked attack in an Ontario, Oregon fast-food restaurant in 2019. According to court documents, Strauss stabbed the victim twice in the neck and attempted to stab him a third time but the victim was able to fight back and escape Strauss. He was then detained by store employees until authorities arrived.
When asked why he attacked the man, Strauss stated he did so because the man “was Black, and I don’t like Black people,” according to authorities. He went on to make similar statements to police during the interviews that followed his arrest.
In September of 2020, a federal grand jury in Eugene indicted Strauss for a hate crime. Earlier this year, in June, the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Oregon said he pleaded guilty to the charge.
Strauss has been sentenced to 16 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
“We hope the lengthy sentence imposed today will bring some measure of peace and closure for the man viciously attacked by Nolan Strauss,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug for the District of Oregon in a statement on the sentencing. “The sentence should also send a clear message to anyone contemplating similar acts of violence: hatred and bigotry will not be tolerated.”
A statement from Special Agent in Charge Kieran Ramsey of the FBI Oregon Field Office read:
“All Oregonians should be able to live and work without fear that their skin color will mark them for violence. Beyond the physical and emotional damage done to a victim, such violence can infect an entire community with divisiveness and despair. This is not the kind of place that any of us want to raise our families, and we stand with the entire community in saying this is not acceptable and we will not allow it.”
Ramsey spoke earlier this month about a new campaign from the FBI that aims to encourage more people to report hate crimes to law enforcement. The bureau said crimes of this sort are the highest priority.