Waukesha Teens Charged with Hate Crimes
WAUKESHA - A coat of fresh paint covers the burned "KKK" and a swastika on a basketball court in the 900 block of Scott Avenue. But the message of hate won't disappear that easily.
Three 17-year-old Waukesha boys, Dylan Barnett, Thor Eggum, and Kurtis Hickey, have now been charged for setting the symbols on fire last month to keep black kids from playing on the court the three boys consider theirs.
The criminal complaint says Hickey told police he started the fire: "due to his hate for blacks." The complaint went on to say he knew the swastika and "KKK" would: "bring about a bad feeling when black people saw these symbols."
Police said Hickey and Eggum admitted to being racist. Even Hickey's MySpace page has a Confederate flag in the background.
None of the suspects would talk on camera. But what they're accused of doing is affecting other families in the area who are having a difficult time explaining the hatred to their children.
"I didn't think it was right. There should be no hate crimes around here at all," Waukesha dad Peter Buchholz said. "The parents maybe should have taught them a little more about that stuff."
The three boys face three and a half years in prison for allegedly setting the fires. They could each get an additional five years because this is considered a hate crime.
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