White man set for hate crime plea in black man’s beating
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A white man serving a three- to six-year state prison sentence for beating a black man at a Pittsburgh commuter rail station during a drunken argument following a Kenny Chesney concert was scheduled to plead guilty to a federal hate crime charge.
The defense attorney for Ryan Kyle has previously said he and federal prosecutors are recommending a three-year prison sentence, which would run concurrently to the 22-year-old defendant’s state term, meaning he won’t serve additional prison time due to Thursday’s scheduled hate crime plea.
The black victim told police he was carrying a blue cooler when he got on the trolley then heard racial slurs before Kyle and four friends confronted him.
Kyle faced more severe state court charges, and was the only one charged with a federal hate crime, based on surveillance video of the incident.