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Brewster said England is Cherokee Indian. In the videotaped interview, Brewster asks England why he used the slur on the posting. "It was just express(ing) the way I was upset about the guy that shot my dad," England told Brewster in the video, which lasts less than eight minutes. "That's the only time I ever expressed anything like that about somebody." Documents filed with the charges said anonymous callers to a police hotline before the men were arrested claimed England was a racist who hated black men and that he "has mentioned he will die in a shootout with the police if he has to." England's family and friends have said the death of his father and his girlfriend's January suicide sent him into a downward spiral. Oklahoma's hate crime law applies in cases where a defendant targets a victim specifically because of that person's race, religion, ancestry, natural origin or disability. Weak penalties, however, have resulted in it usually only being used in cases involving low-level misdemeanors where prosecutors want a longer sentence. The malicious harassment law is a misdemeanor on the first offense and carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
[Associated
Press;
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