To: President Donald Trump, Loretta E. Lynch, Department of Justice, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate

Department of Justice: Address hate crimes against mentally disabled Black teenager

We demand that the Department of Justice charge John R.K. Howard with a federal hate crime for sodomizing a mentally disabled Black teen with a coat hanger. Howard was initially charged with sexual assault, but an Idaho court reduced the charge to a felony count of injury to a child, allowing him to maintain his "innocence" and walk free on probation.

Why is this important?

John R.K. Howard is a menace to society. He and two juvenile perpetrators allegedly ganged up on a mentally disabled Black teenager and sodomized him with a coat hanger in October 2015. According to the original lawsuit, this young Black man also had a history of being taunted by Howard and other classmates with racist names, including "Kool-Aid," "chicken eater," "watermelon," and the N-word. The youth had to be hospitalized for rectal injuries from the assault.

In May 2016, the Idaho attorney general originally charged Howard with sexual assault, but in October 2016 this charge was lowered to felony count of injury to a child. As a result, Howard will be sentenced to just two to three years of probation and up to 300 hours of community service.

To add insult to injury: The Alford plea which Howard submitted allows him to maintain his "innocence" even though it is very likely that prosecutors would have won a conviction against him if the case had gone to trial.

Once again, we have a brutal case of racial violence, of white on black crime, and the white perpetrator literally walks away, while the Black victim and his family are left to deal with violent memories and physical injury and the fact that the legal system failed to grant them the justice they deserve.

Americans are sick to death of one travesty of justice after another in response to racially motivated crimes. This is an alleged double hate crime inspired by prejudice against both race and disability. We demand justice for our fellow Americans!