Randy Metcalf, 40, of Dubuque, Iowa, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for stomping on and kicking the head of an African-American man in a racially targeted attack.
The evidence at trial showed that on Jan. 12, 2015, Metcalf assaulted an African-American male at the Northside Bar in Dubuque. After getting into an argument over a jukebox with the victim’s female friends, Metcalf directed racial slurs at the victim and his friends, told other patrons that he hated black people, bragged to the bar’s owner about being involved in cross-burnings and flashed his swastika tattoo. Later that night, after hours of taunting, Metcalf attacked the victim’s female friend. When the victim intervened to protect her, Metcalf’s friends knocked him out. As the victim lay barely conscious on the floor of the bar, Metcalf walked over to him and repeatedly kicked and stomped on his head.
“This vicious attack threatened the most basic standards of human decency and dignity,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “While no sentence, including this one, can undo the harm inflicted, it does send an unequivocal message that the Justice Department will vigorously prosecute hate crimes.”
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of all people,” said U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau of the Northern District of Iowa. “Hate crimes represent an attack not just on the individual victim but also on the entire community. The federal hate crime of which Randy Metcalf was found guilty is as reprehensible as it was violent. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to vindicate the rights of victims of violent hate crimes.”
In addition to sentencing Metcalf to the statutory maximum 10-year sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge Linda R. Reade of the Northern District of Iowa also ordered him to pay $1,874.56 in restitution. Metcalf is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until he can be transported to a federal prison.
