An odd crime

Who knew that"ethnic intimidation" was a crime?

"An Italian-born 47-year-old restaurant cook who pleaded guilty to a crime of ethnic intimidation was sentenced today to five years probation and ordered to complete 150 hours of community service in Camden. Superior Court Judge William Cook also ordered Claudio Diventura to write an essay on the evils of racism.

Diventura was arrested after fingerprint analysis showed he had handled a sign with a racist slur written on it. The sign, white lettering on brown siding, was posted in September on a utility pole in Sicklerville and reported to police by a man who was in town visiting a relative. Investigation by the Winslow Township police showed the siding matched some removed from Diventura's home in the first block of South Grove Street in Sicklerville.

Diventura, represented by defense attorney Leonard Baker, did not give any reason for hanging the sign. He apologized to several black court officials who are assigned to Cook's courtroom.

Source

I can imagine that he might be prosecuted for putting up a sign on public property but it seems that the offense was what was said on the sign. Contrary to what Leftists say, SCOTUS has held that "hate speech" is free speech so I suspect that an appeal against this would succeed.

Nobody seems to be saying what was on the sign but, judging from the apology to blacks present in the court, it was something generic like "Africa for the Africans". That would certainly be protected. If however it was an explicit threat, other laws might apply.