United States of America v. Charles Antonio Clippard, Michael Joseph Knox, Gabriel Brunson, Sierra Fletcher

Columbia, South Carolina criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Civil Rights Crimes Targeting Hispanics

Four South Carolina Defendants Sentenced for Civil Rights Crimes Targeting Hispanics

Three South Carolina men and one woman were indicted for violent crimes targeting Hispanics in Columbia, South Carolina. Charles Antonio Clippard, 27, Michael Joseph Knox, 29, Gabriel Brunson, 21, and Sierra Fletcher, 34, were all indicted.



All four defendants previously pleaded guilty to carjacking, conspiracy, firearms, and criminal civil rights charges in connection with the string of armed robberies. According to court documents, beginning in January 2021 and continuing through February 2021, the four defendants conspired to target Hispanic victims for armed robberies. The group would wait for their victims at gas stations and grocery stores and then follow them to their homes or other locations to rob their victims at gunpoint. All four defendants admitted their involvement in a Jan. 30, 2021, armed robbery and carjacking targeting a Hispanic victim after following him from a gas station to his home. In another series of robberies on Jan. 30, 2021, three members of the group carjacked one victim, and invaded the home of another group of victims. The group stole cash, cellphones, driver's licenses, and credit cards from multiple victims.



"The defendants hunted victims based on their ethnicity and terrorized an entire community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Brook B Andrews for the District of South Carolina. "Their acts of bias-motivated violence have no place in South Carolina. These four defendants will spend a total of 85 years in federal prison as a result of law enforcement coordination at the federal, state, and local level. We are all committed to making sure the Palmetto State remains a safe place for everyone.”



Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews and Acting Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis of the FBI Columbia Field Office made the announcement.



The FBI Columbia Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the Richland County Sheriff's Department, Town of Lexington Police Department and Columbia Police Department.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Garner for the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorneys Katherine McCallister and Andrew Manns of the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section prosecuted the case.