Christo-Facist Sentenced

ILLINOIS MAN WHO WRECKED MUSLIM FAMILY'S VAN GOING BACK TO JAIL - TOP Mike Robinson, Associated Press, 8/22/06http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15335073.htmA man who went to jail for six months for setting off an explosive device that wrecked a van belonging to a Palestinian American family was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to an additional 15 months in prison."It is an unusually serious offense," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in sending Eric K. Nix to federal prison for igniting the commercial aerial shell that ripped a hole in the floorboard, bent one of the steel doors outward and effectively made the vehicle a total wreck.So powerful was the blast - equivalent to at least half a stick of dynamite - that the van's owner, Abbas Salmi, 30, a computer technician, and his family in their nearby house at the time felt the walls shake.Prosecutors said the 30-year-old Nix felt enormous hatred for Arab Americans after they started moving into south suburban Burbank where he lives and it was intensified after his van was towed and Salmi's was not.Nix pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to arson and a hate crime as a result of the March 2003 bombing and was sentenced to six months in jail."It seemed like an eternity," Nix said. "It was a very, very harsh experience." He said he was sorry for wrecking the Salmi family's van.Kennelly said Nix appeared to have learned his lesson while in jail serving time for the state offenses. He received treatment to end his habit of smoking marijuana as well as training in anger management.But Kennelly said the sentence had to be stiff enough to deter others."We have an incredibly diverse society," Kennelly said. "We also have an unfortunate history of racial and ethnic intimidation." . . .With the nation at war in Iraq and the war on terrorism at home and abroad, the federal government plainly wanted to demonstrate that it would not tolerate acts of bigotry aimed at Arab Americans. It asked Kennelly to sentence Nix to as much as 87 months in prison but the judge refused. (MORE)