Attorney general to appeal hate crime ruling on racist rant
June 9, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Rhode Island s attorney general plans to appeal a judge s decision that a woman did not commit a hate crime when she directed a profanity-laced rant at a Black family at a restaurant.
Christine Longo, who is white, was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct Tuesday for yelling at the East Providence family of four and telling them to “go back where you came from” in June 2020 at the waterfront restaurant in Narragansett.
But Judge James Caruolo, who called Longo s actions “vile and disgusting,” determined he did not have the “authority or autonomy” to apply the state s hate crime enhancement, which could have meant a harsher sentence for the 34-year-old South Kingstown woman.
WAKEFIELD Adote Akpabie wanted to enjoy a seafood dinner with his wife and daughters on the shore in Narragansett last June.
But the 43-year-old was diverted as he made his way to the hostess stand at the Coast Guard House restaurant.
In the foyer area of the restaurant, a woman vulgarly and loudly called attention to the color of his skin, saying a (expletive) Black guy, Akpabie testified Wednesday in District Court, Wakefield, at the trial of a 34-year-old South Kingstown woman.
Christine Longo is charged with disorderly conduct and she also faces an enhancement that prosecutors can seek in situations where they believe racial hatred was a factor.