Coatesville man sentenced to state prison for racist, anti-Semitic graffiti
On the night of Aug. 22, 2017, George Rissell downed a 750 milliliter bottle of Everclear grain alcohol. Inside his Coatesville home, he chased shots with a bottle of coconut rum, he said, and snorted six high-dosage bars of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. His last memory, he said, was blasting heavy metal music in his kitchen.
Before the night was over, the 25-year-old would commit what on Wednesday he called a horribly ignorant crime: spray-painting anti-Semitic and racist messages including the phrase Kill all n on several locations in the Chester County city.
On Wednesday, a Chester County judge sentenced Rissell to seven to 14 years in state prison, exceeding the five to 11 years recommended by prosecutors, on charges of ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief.
The bottom line: being drunk, that doesnt excuse being racist, Judge Patrick Carmody said. Youre both trying to scare [people] and youre trying to incite violence.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/coatesville-man-sentenced-to-state-prison-for-racist-anti-semitic-graffiti-20180627.html