Attorney general to appeal hate crime ruling on racist rant
June 9, 2021
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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.