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Colorado Springs man charged with hate crime after stabbing a Black man in Nebraska in 2019

nolan strauss hate crime black
Courtesy of Malheur County Jail

PORTLAND, Ore. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs man was charged Thursday with a hate crime after stabbing a Black man in Nebraska in December 2019.

A federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, charged 26-year-old Nolan Levi Strauss with a hate crime involving an attempt to kill.

On the morning of December 21, 2019, police say Strauss attacked and stabbed a Black man in a truck stop restaurant with no provocation. When asked by a store employee why he attacked the man, Strauss said the man "was Black and I don't like Black people."

The victim was 48-year-old Ronnell Hughes, who had recently moved to Nebraska and was applying at the Arby's next to the Pilot Travel Center in Ontario. Hughes suffered two lacerations in his neck and was life-flighted to Boise, Idaho for emergency surgery.

Our partner 9News first reported that Strauss was a truck driver from Colorado Springs. Strauss is scheduled for his first appearance in federal court on October 19. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Article Topic Follows: Colorado Springs

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Zachary Aedo

Zach is a reporter for KRDO and Telemundo Surco. Learn more about Zach here.

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