Pair gets 35 years for terrorizing black boy’s party with Confederate flags

Feb 28, 2017

On Monday, a Georgia man and woman were sentenced to a total of 35 years in prison between the two of them after they terrorized a black child’s birthday party with Confederate flags and racially-charged threats.

Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton were charged under a street gang terrorism law and both cried in court after they had been sentenced.

In video footage from the party, a parade of trucks waving Confederate flags can be seen driving past the party as at least one person is heard to shout the N-word, while witnesses say that a man promised to “kill the n****rs.”

Torres was sentenced to 20 years for assault, terroristic threats and street gang terrorism. He will serve 13 years in prison. Norton, who has been identified as the mother of Torres’ children, was sentenced to 15 years for terroristic threats and street gang terrorism. She will serve 6 of those years in prison.

The prosecutors made their case not based on the use of the Confederate flag but based on the threats made against those who were at the party.

“This is behavior that even supporters of the Confederate battle flag can agree is criminal and shouldn’t be allowed,” Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in a statement.