On Friday, The Root reported that a Minnesota man has been convicted after a months-long campaign of stalking and harassment against a mixed-race family that culminated with him crashing a stolen truck into their home.
"A jury has found Benton Beyer, 33, guilty of purposely ramming a truck into the side of an interracial family’s home, per CBS News," reported Kalyn Womack. "The family had an existing restraining order against him and for good reason given this premeditated attack was the finale of 80+ days of stalking and harassment."
"Beyer’s various attempts to disturb Cold Spring, Minnesota couple Andrea and Phillipe Robinson (who is Black) and their kids occurred just last summer. The Robinsons recalled several racially motivated incidents which they labeled as a 'stalking campaign' including damage to their vehicles and property, per the complaint. The icing on the cake was when Beyer stole an SUV, hung a teddy bear by a noose on the inside and placed a piece of granite on the accelerator to drive into the side of the Robinson home. The family caught the act on their Ring alarm."
Speaking to Channel 3000, Andrea Robinson said, “It’s incredibly hard to accept, we are a multiracial family that someone would want to harm, my husband, my kids or me for simply being married to a Black man, that that level of hate exists.”
Racist hate incidents and threats have gained national attention in recent years, as hate crimes in general saw an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, from individual assaults to the mass shooting in a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo.
Even some members of Congress have been impacted, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who is Indian-American, releasing voicemails of an armed, racist stalker who threatened to kill her in her home and warned that her "day is coming."
