LOCKPORT, N.Y. — A Town of Niagara man has been sentenced to prison time for spray painting a racial slur on a neighbor's fence.
Howard Murphy was sentenced to two and 1/3 years to seven years in state prison on a criminal mischief in the second degree, as a hate crime charge.
Murphy was convicted of vandalizing his neighbor's fence with a racial slur inciting violence two days after the mass shooting at Tops in Buffalo in 2022.
“This hate crime did serve to terrorize a family,” Niagara County District Attorney Brian D. Seaman said.
“It was traumatic to have that message of violence and hate delivered, just 2 days after a race motivated massacre. This family was in real fear that someone was going to target them for violence. The punishment in this case reflects the trauma that was experience by the victims.”
