Maryland Man Indicted for Bias-Motivated Assaults of Men in Washington, D.C. Park

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Michael Thomas Pruden, 48, with 5 counts of assault on federal land, one depend of impersonating a federal officer, and a hate crimes sentencing enhancement alleging that Pruden assaulted 4 of the victims due to their perceived sexual orientation. Assistant Lawyer Basic Kristen Clarke of the Division of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Lawyer Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Cost Steven M. D’Antuono for the FBI Washington Area Workplace made the announcement.

The indictment alleges that on 5 separate dates from 2018 to 2021, Pruden went after darkish to Meridian Hill Park, aka Malcolm X Park, which is informally recognized within the Washington, D.C. group as a gathering place for males searching for consensual intercourse with different males, and assaulted 5 males with a chemical irritant. Earlier than spraying the lads, Pruden pretended to be a Park Police officer, shined a flashlight within the victims’ faces and gave the victims police-style directives. The indictment alleges that Pruden assaulted 4 of the victims due to their precise or perceived sexual orientation. 

Pruden was arrested at this time in Norfolk, Virginia. Pruden faces a statutory most sentence of 10 years for every assault depend and a three-year statutory most sentence for impersonating a federal officer. The hate crimes sentencing enhancement will increase the vary of the potential sentence for the assault counts.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Park Police and the FBI Washington Area Workplace, and is being prosecuted by Trial Lawyer Rebekah J. Bailey of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Lawyer Risa Berkower for the District of Columbia.

If you happen to imagine that you simply had been a sufferer of, or witnessed, an identical assault in Meridian Hill Park, please name the FBI tip line, 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). 

For extra info and sources in regards to the division’s work to fight hate crimes, go to www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed harmless till confirmed responsible past an inexpensive doubt in a courtroom of regulation.