A man from Whiting will spend the next ten months in prison for threatening several people because of their race.

Between June 2022 and August 2023, Brian O’Neill, 46, threatened the family living next door to him because of their race. Court documents say O’Neill screamed racial slurs at the family and told them to move out of town several times.

O’Neill even went so far as to threaten the landlord who had rented the house to the family.

O’Neill originally denied this all to police, but there was a recording that refuted his claims.

“Freedom to acquire housing and the freedom to live peaceably in that housing are keys to building a more stable, safe, and prosperous society. When, as in this case, a person interferes with another person’s ability to attain and retain housing because of racial prejudices, they have committed a hate crime,” said United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson in a Wednesday evening press release, “my office and our law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate and prosecute these crimes whenever and wherever they occur in the Northern District of Indiana.”

Brian O’Neill pled guilty and as part of his plea agreement, he acknowledged the fact that he threatened the family because of their race. He was sentenced to ten months in prison and will serve another two years on probation afterwards.