LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 10 (UPI) -- Two Arkansas men pleaded guilty Tuesday to firebombing an interracial couple's home, authorities said.
Dustin Hammond and Jake Murphy both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the couple's rights and one count of criminal violation of housing rights, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
The pair admitted while at a Jan. 14 party in Evening Shade they plotted with two other men to firebomb the couple's house in Hardy. After arriving at the couple's home, the four men made three Molotov cocktails and threw them at the house, and taunted the victims with racial slurs and threatened violence. Although the home sustained some damage, the victims were not harmed.
"Firebombing a family's home because of their race is a deplorable act of hate that will not be tolerated in our country," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department will vigorously prosecute those who resort to violent acts motivated by hate."
Hammond and Murphy face as much as 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 12.
The other two co-defendants are to go to trial May 31.
