ABINGDON, Va. -- A southwest Virginia man has pleaded guilty to a federal offense in connection with the burning of a cross last summer on the front lawn of a Black teenager who had recently organized a civil rights protest.
Court records say 41-year-old James Brown of Marion pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of criminal interference with federally protected housing rights based upon the victim’s race.
According to a plea agreement, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Brown's neighbor was a Black teenager who was an organizer of a protest in Marion, a small town not far from where Virginia meets Tennessee and North Carolina.
A teen led a Black Lives Matter protest in his small town. A cross was burned in his yard. https://t.co/VfxPPMy9ty
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 16, 2020
