Florida Cops Arrest 3 on Hate Crimes

The Associated Press/December 11, 2000

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Three white men were arrested on hate crime charges after they allegedly assaulted a black man, authorities said. John J. Newsome, 44, was walking on Main Street early Sunday when the men knocked him to the ground, punched and kicked him, and cut his hand with a broken bottle, police said.

According to the Florida Times-Union, Newsome told police one of the men yelled, "There's one, let's get him," as they ran toward him. The men also used racial slurs and threatened to kill Newsome, according to police reports. The men stopped beating Newsome when a passer-by appeared, and Newsome fled and summoned police, the reports said.

Edward R. Fix Jr., Robert H. Parrott and Jacob A. Laskey, all age 20, were charged with battery and commission of a hate crime, authorities said.

One of the men told police that he had met the others at a white-supremacist rally, the newspaper reported. Another refused to answer any questions, police said.