Bigots sentenced for homophobic hate crimes after luring victims using a gay dating app

A total of four men have been sentenced to multiple years in prison after being caught using the gay dating app Grindr in a hate crime scheme.

The Daily Beast reported that the last of the four perpetrators, all of whom are between 19 and 21, were sentenced Monday after committing a series of early 2017 hate crimes in north Texas. Anthony Shelton and Cameron Ajiduah, ages 20 and 19, "were sentenced to 20 and 15 years in prison, respectively," the report noted, and joined the previous sentencing of 15 and 10 years of their co-conspirators, Nigel Garrett (age 21) and Chancler Enclade (age 20).

"For each of the four home invasions," the Justice Department wrote in a press release, "the defendants used Grindr, a social media dating platform for gay men, to falsely identify as a gay man and arrange to meet the victim at the victim’s home.”

“Upon entering the victim’s home, the defendants assaulted the victim, restrained the victim with tape, and made derogatory statements about the victim being gay," the DOJ statement continued. "The defendants possessed a firearm during each home invasion, and they stole the victim’s property, including his motor vehicle."

As U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown for the Eastern District of Texas said in the statement, the case "highlights the danger of the internet and specifically, online apps."