A 73-year-old Georgia man has been arrested after allegedly shooting at his Black neighbor while yelling racial slurs, WGXA reports.
Mark Wheeler, 73, is facing federal hate crime and firearm charges after he shot a .22 caliber revolver at this neighbor in Loganville, the Justice Department said. Authorities believe the shooting was racially motivated.
According to his indictment, Wheeler violated the Fair Housing Act, which bans force to intimidate or interfere with housing rights based on race. Wheeler is also accused of unlawful firearm use while committing a civil rights violation.
Wheeler could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the two charges. A judge will later determine his sentence.
FBI’s Atlanta Field Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Officials condemned the racial-motivated shooting as illegal discrimination, which they said won’t be tolerated.
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