Global Courant
A 31-year-old Oregon man, Matthew Alan Lehigh, has pleaded guilty to two Idaho hate crime charges. Lehigh punched a transgender librarian in Boise, Idaho, then tried to run his car into another co-worker who defended the transgender co-worker. The Oregon man also yelled threats and attempted to use his car to hit another female couple he thought were lesbians based solely on their looks.
According to court documents and the U.S. Department of Justice, a man pleaded guilty to hate crimes for threatening to use his vehicle to run over an Idaho librarian who was defending a transgender colleague, as well as two women he believed to be lesbians .
Matthew Alan Lehigh, 31, of Oregon, entered the plea on two hate crime charges in federal court in Idaho on Thursday, the department said. Lehigh had signed a plea deal in the case last month. He is later convicted.
A Lehigh attorney did not immediately return an email after hours Thursday asking for comment.
SHOOTING SUSPECTED OF COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB ATTACK EXPECTED PLEASURE MATCH
Matthew Alan Lehigh, 31, of Oregon, has pleaded guilty to hate crime charges after threatening to use his car to attack several people believed to be part of the LGBTQI+ community.
Lehigh acknowledged as part of the plea deal that last October at a Boise public library he threatened and clenched a librarian who is transgender. Another librarian tried to protect the colleague and followed Lehigh as Lehigh fled to the parking lot. There, Lehigh got into his car, and after the worker following him outside approached, Lehigh accelerated his car toward the person, who jumped out of the way, as agreed.
Days later, Lehigh was standing in a parking lot in his car at a Boise park and saw two women whom he “assumed from their appearance and dress” to be lesbians, the document said. He shouted threats and insults at them and accelerated his car towards them. They jumped out of the way, the document says, but Lehigh’s vehicle hit one of the women’s car.
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The Justice Department said that, as part of the agreement, Lehigh also admitted responsibility for three other incidents, including setting fire to a pride flag hanging on a same-sex couple’s front porch.
“Hate crimes like these attack a deeply personal part of a person’s identity, and they have a devastating impact on families and communities,” said Luis Quesada, deputy director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI will not tolerate violence against the LGBTQI+ community.”
