Indianapolis man pleads guilty to hate crime at neighbor
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man has pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and weapons charges after threatening a Black neighbor, prosecutors said Friday.
Shepherd Hoehn, 51, became incensed over the neighbor hiring a construction crew to remove a tree last June 18 and burned a cross above the fence line facing the neighbor’s property; displayed a swastika on his fence; displayed a large sign containing several anti-Black racial slurs; displayed a machete near the sign; loudly played the Confederate anthem “Dixie” repeatedly; and threw eggs at the neighbor’s house, prosecutors said.