North Carolina Man Sentenced To Prison For Threatening To Shoot Black Renters

A North Carolina man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for threatening to shoot an African American family renting a home in his neighborhood.

Douglas Matthew Gurkins, 34, was given 28 months prison sentence, along with three years of supervised release Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Officials didn't provide details regarding Gurkins' hometown or where the incident took place.

"Part of what makes the United States free is the guarantee that we can live anywhere in this country without regard to the color of our skin and without murderous threats directed at us and our children," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband said in the statement.

In August, Gurkins pleaded guilty to one count of criminal interference with the Fair Housing Act after making the racially charged threat.

The incident is traced back to December 2014 when Gurkins yelled racial slurs at the family and told them they did not belong to the property. He then threatened to shoot the family, which includes four minor children. Gurkins also threatened to shoot any other Black family that would come to live in the place.

According to court documents, Gurkins even brandished a metal rod in a threatening manner while the family watched in horror. The Black family moved out from the property a few days later.

"This defendant threatened citizens of this District - a mom and her four children - because of their race. This is not who we are as Americans and prejudice of any kind is intolerable," the U.S. Justice Department had said in a news release in August.

Gurkins also reportedly made similar threats to two other Black families living in the same neighborhood.

This news comes after a North Carolina man was sentenced to two years in prison early in November for threatening to burn down a Black church in Virginia. John Malcolm Bareswill, 63, was apparently angered by a church leader taking part in a vigil for George Floyd. The man also used a racial slur while making the threat in a phone call.