The Illinois Attorney General building is pictured in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)
Article Summary
- The attorney general’s office won the first-ever civil hate crime lawsuit brought by the state under a 2018 law.
- Two white residents of Carroll County were charged with intimidation and hate crimes against their neighbor, who is Black.
- A Carroll County judge found them to be in violation and they were ordered to pay a total of more than $90,000 in penalties and damages.
This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
Amid a flurry of lawsuits filed in federal court against the Trump administration, Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office won a historic first in Illinois last month by successfully trying the state’s first civil hate crime lawsuit.
Chad Hampton and his mother Cheryl Hampton, who are white, were found to have engaged in intimidation and disorderly conduct towards their neighbor, Gregory Johnson, who is Black, according to Raoul’s office.
The Hamptons allegedly lynched an effigy of Johnson, facing his home, after Johnson had called the police on Chad Hampton for allegedly damaging his lawn. Court filings show the Hamptons also displayed a racial slur, swastikas and a Confederate flag aimed at their neighbor’s home.
“This behavior is shocking, racist and un-American. I appreciate the judge’s order that shows such despicable behavior will not be tolerated in our state,” Raoul said in the release.
The attorney general’s office was first given authority to try such a case in 2018. The legislature amended the Illinois Hate Crime Act to allow the attorney general to file civil lawsuits against residents for alleged hate crimes.
Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Jerry Kane ordered the Hamptons to each pay a civil penalty of $5,000 and damages of $45,000 to Johnson.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, details a record of behavior Raoul says was aimed at intimidating Johnson, dating back to 2020. At the time of the incidents, the Hamptons and Johnson resided in Carroll County in northwest Illinois.
“Johnson had repeatedly contacted the local police department in Savanna, Illinois, about the Hamptons’ aggressive conduct toward him,” the lawsuit says, stating that Johnson accused Chad Hampton of damaging his lawn with weed killer.
After Hampton was charged with a misdemeanor for the damage, the lynched effigy appeared in the Hamptons’ front yard, which Raoul labeled as an intimidation tactic and threat of racial violence in the complaint.
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Hate crimes in Illinois have been on the rise since 2016, but spiked in the last four years, according to FBI data collected from college, city, county, state and federal agencies.
Over 50% of reported hate crimes were due to race or ethnicity.
Reports of hate crimes have increased across the nation as well, according to the FBI data.
“With dramatic increases in reported hate crimes, I will continue to use all of the tools at my disposal to prosecute hate crimes and send the message that hate has no place in Illinois,” Raoul said in a statement.
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