California man sentenced to 60 days in jail for threatening to shoot family wearing BLM T-shirts
Steven L. Cibotti slammed his hands on their table at a Bay Area restaurant and yelled, “F— black lives. Blue lives matter!”
A 57-year-old California man has been sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of supervised probation after threatening a family wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts in June of 2020.
According to The Mercury News, the family — a couple with three young children — were at a Bay Area restaurant called Flights when fellow diner Steven L. Cibotti slammed his hands on their table and yelled, “F— black lives. Blue lives matter!”
Anthony Colon, the father, told Cibotti not to talk to them that way, and his alleged response was, “F— you, if I had a gun, I would shoot all of you.”
Colon, his wife, Ciara Doherty, and their children, Arya, 7, Arlo, 5, and Etta, 2, were dining at Flights after attending a BLM protest in San Francisco.
“I’m upset that the kids were exposed to that,” Doherty told ABC7 News at the time. “I’m upset at the effect it’s going to have on them. After this, Arlo didn’t want to leave the house today because he thinks the guy’s going to come back and bring his gun.”
After an 11-day investigation, Cibotti was arrested. His attorney blamed the outburst on excessive alcohol consumption.
Cibotti pleaded no contest to a felony hate crime by means of felony threats, and he was sentenced to two years of supervised probation, 60 days in jail with one day credit for time served and 120 hours of public service. He was ordered to abstain from alcohol and controlled substances, and cannot possess a weapon or contact the victimized family.
He also lost his job at United Airlines.
When he was arrested, the family he victimized released a statement that read: “We are relieved to hear that the District Attorney has filed charges. We look forward to the resolution of this matter so that we and everyone else affected by this incident can put it behind them and begin the healing process.”
They have not yet commented on Cibotti’s sentence.
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