What rhymes with Osama? It’s good to see these racist punks get served…or were they? From the Newsobserver.com:

Three men found guilty in District Court of ethnic intimidation for assaulting an Indian Sikh reached a plea agreement on less serious charges when they appealed their conviction.

In a plea agreement in Orange County Superior Court, the men pleaded guilty Monday to assault inflicting serious injury and simple assault, but not to ethnic intimidation.

One man will go to prison for 150 days for the assaults and for several probation violations. The other two will each spend 14 days in jail.

The case stemmed from an incident in March on West Franklin Street when defendant Kenneth Antwaine Perry, 20, walked past UNC student G. Bindra and called him “Osama.”

At the time, Bindra, a Sikh who has brown skin and a beard, was wearing his hair wrapped in a scarf. He responded by saying, “Your mama.”

Man, that would be worth a beating I think. I commend Bindra for having the courage (although it was probably best to walk away) to put that racist f#@k in his place with such a simple comeback. But why weren’t the three men charged with ethnic intimidation? Isn’t this clearly a hate crime? Originally they were convicted of the more serious crime.

The question during the District Court trial in July was whether the young men assaulted Bindra because they thought he was someone like Osama bin Laden, or because they were angered by his retort.

District Court Judge Alonzo Coleman found them guilty of assault inflicting serious injury for the assault against Michnowicz and for ethnic intimidation for the assault against Bindra.

Coleman sentenced Kenneth Perry to a total of 120 days in jail. Frederick Perry and Burnette received 120 days in jail, but Coleman suspended their sentence and put them on probation.
What?!? A damn slap on the wrist? That’s pathetic. I guess the new “stiffer” penalty with the lesser plea is better than nothing. Still, it bothers me that they get to erase from their records the true nature of this crime.