TAMPA, Fla. — A federal jury found a Tampa Bay-area man guilty of what the Department of Justice called a racially motivated attack on a Black driver traveling with his family last summer.
Jordan Leahy, 29, could spend up to 10 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 at sentencing, the government said in a news release Thursday.
A previously-released arrest affidavit said the hate crime happened around 10 p.m. Aug. 8, 2021, near Bryan Dairy Road and Starkey Road in Seminole.
The government says Leahy came across the driver who was with his daughter and girlfriend as they headed home from a family get-together. At some point, Leahy called the man racial slurs and used his car to force the family off the road, the release reads.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at the time said Leahy sideswiped the Black driver and began using the Nazi salute while pretending to shoot him. Investigators say Leahy also got out of his car and punched the driver in the chest before being subdued by the man.
According to the DOJ, the encounter lasted nearly a mile and a half down the road before the sideswipe.
"When officers from the Pinellas County Sherriff’s Office arrived on the scene, Leahy made numerous statements evidencing his bias motive, including telling the officers that Black people need to be kept 'in their areas,'" the government said.
While in custody, the affidavit said he later told authorities he wanted to commit a mass shooting of 70 to 80 people before taking his own life. He added that he was "a sheltered white citizen and society needs to be concerned about how easily he can conduct a mass shooting," the affidavit said.
"Hate crimes are not just an attack on an individual, they are an attack on entire communities," Special Agent in Charge Walker said in a statement. "We want to assure the public the FBI will work diligently investigating crimes driven by hate and intolerance.
"We encourage anyone who believes their civil rights have been violated to report it to the FBI."
Previous 10 Tampa Bay reporting contributed to this story.