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A hate crime exposed |
At a brief court hearing Tuesday, Deanna Scaglione told a federal judge she is guilty of attacking a man in downtown Anchorage last summer and that she taunted, shoved and demeaned him simply because he was an Alaska Native. Three home videos of the attack made by Scaglione on a Flip camera, two of which she posted to YouTube, helped prosecutors build the hate crime case against her and co-defendant Robert Gum.
"As captured by her own statement on the video recording, Scaglione described that they were downtown 'egging Natives,'" prosecutor Retta-Rae Randall told U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess when asked to describe what the government was prepared to prove should the case go to trial.
"Is what she said true?" Burgess asked Scaglione after Randall spent nearly five minutes recounting details of the attack captured in Scaglione's video recordings.
"Yes," replied Scaglione in the same soft-spoken voice she used throughout the hearing, speaking only when asked questions by the judge. Scaglione, now 20 and going through a divorce, explained that after high school -- 12th grade was her last year of education -- she married a military man and became a stay-at-home mom. Yes, she understood the charges. No, she wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Yes, she realized she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Scaglione pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal civil rights violation without the benefit of a plea deal, something Gum has recently stated he also wishes to do. Both also face charges in state court stemming from the same incident.
What follows is Randall's description of the attack: In the early morning hours of July 28, 2009, Scaglione and Gum pursued, harassed and assaulted their victim. She drove, he rode in the passenger seat. They found their victim walking downtown near Beans Café, a homeless shelter. Gum threw eggs at the man and said things to him like "Hey dog, you want to get shot?"
The duo drives to a parking lot several blocks away and waited for the man, traveling by foot, to come back into view. They followed him as he tried to get away. Scaglione shoved him, and Gum made derogatory references to alcohol and drinking. The man put his palm out and asked to be left alone. Gum threatened to punch, kick and cut the man. The man again asked to be left alone, saying "I'm not dumb."
"You are dumb; you're fucking Native," Scaglione replied.
The man eventually made his way to a security guard stationed outside a nearby building and asked for help. The guard shooed Scaglione and Gum away and walked off with the man. (Listen to the full audio of Randall's description.)
"All of these actions and more would be proven by the government at trial," Randall said. They threatened "to harm the victim with a baseball bat, a gun and a knife solely because of his race and ethnicity, and in order to interfere with his ability to enjoy the benefit, right and privilege of walking along the streets and sidewalks owned and administered by the Municipality of Anchorage and the State of Alaska."
Scaglione's sentencing on the single civil rights charge -- interference with federally protected activities -- is scheduled to take place in September. Randall said the victim plans to be there and has something he'd like to say to the court and his attackers.
Gum is expected to enter a guilty plea June 8.
Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com.