Opinion ID: 46354
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Enhancement for Racially Motivated Attack

Text: Under U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(a), if the district court determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected a victim based on the victim’s race, then the offense level is to be increased by three levels. The district court applied this victim-related enhancement. Horsting 5 argues that Schroeder and Hudson orchestrated the attack because of the victims’ race but that his motivation was only self-preservation; he contends that he participated in the attack due to coercion and duress. He points to Schroeder’s sentencing hearing, a transcript of which he attached as an exhibit to his objections to the PSR, during which Schroeder stated that Horsting would participate “period.” Horsting also emphasizes that nothing in the record suggests that he would have carried out the attack in the absence of the two co-attackers. At sentencing, the government conceded that, among the three defendants, “the case of proving intent or the racial motivation is weakest” for Horsting. The government continued, however, noting that the evidence was clear that the attack was racially motivated and that, as the video showed, Horsting actively participated in the racially-motivated event. The district court recognized that the attack was “entirely a racially motivated incident from its beginning planning to its end result.” The district court found Horsting’s argument that he was coerced unpersuasive because the video showed that the attack lasted a “substantial period of time” and that at no point did Horsting withdraw from the attack. The district court stated, “[Horsting] could have stopped sooner. He could have done a number of things that would indicate he did not intend the consequences of the planning and the execution of this assault.” We conclude that the district court’s finding that Horsting’s attack was racially motivated beyond a reasonable doubt was plausible in light of the record as a whole. Horsting and the other attackers were likely involved with a gang called the Dirty White Boys, and the attackers were shouting racial slurs during the assault. According to the PSR, Horsting was aware of the motivation for the assault. Horsting does not dispute that the attack was planned for retaliatory reasons against black inmates. As the parties discussed at sentencing, the prison video showed that Horsting actively 6 participated in the attack. The district court emphasized that Horsting did not retreat or put down his weapon even while the guards called for additional security as reinforcement to stop the attacks. The district court’s finding that Horsting’s attack was racially motivated did not amount to clear error.