As hate crimes continue to rapidly increase across the country, convictions are also on the rise. Every week, more and more individuals are being convicted for hate crime charges whether that be against a religion, race, or community. Most recently, a Pennsylvania health care worker entered a guilty plea on federal hate crime charges Thursday after allegedly abusing several individuals with severe physical and mental disabilities at McGuire Memorial, a press release from the Department of Justice said.
The man identified as Zachary Dinell was accused of recording himself abusing people. He pleaded guilty to both hate crime charges and a conspiracy charge. According to KDKA, he was sentenced to 14 to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of violating federal hate crimes law, and one count of concealing material facts in a health care matter. Prior to him taking a plea deal, Dinnell was sentenced in 2020 to a state prison term of 10 to 31 years related to the attacks.
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According to prosecutors, Dinnell and another health care worker, Tyler Smith, were indicted earlier this year after punching, kicking, and spraying liquid irritants in patients’ faces.
Both Dinnell and Smith worked in the facility as part of the direct care staff, assisting residents with daily tasks such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and oral hygiene. Dinnell began working at the facility in June 2016. According to prosecutors, together Dinnell and Smith abused at least 13 residents, including seven who required the use of a wheelchair.
Because the patients were both physically disabled and nonverbal, Dinnel said he and his colleague were able to continue the assaults without anyone knowing.
“Residents of the facility suffered from a range of severe physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities, and required assistance with all activities of daily life, including bathing, using the bathroom, oral hygiene, feeding, and dressing,” the Department of Justice said.
Dinnell also admitted that he recorded several of the assaults on his phone and exchanged text messages with Smith to express which residents they did not like, describe the assaults, and encourage continued abuse.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of the texts Dinnell sent said: “thinking about throwing [Resident 1] in the dumpster out back and burying him so they'd take him out with the garbage but then I remembered his sheep instincts would kick in and someone would hear him.”
These hate crime charges follow a rise in hate crimes across the country. According to the Pearson Institute-AP-NORC poll, a majority of Americans say misinformation is the issue leading to an increase in hate crimes and extreme political views. While in this case the hate seems to take the form of an abuse of power, misinformation about different communities has led to several other incidents.
“The public continues to see misinformation as a significant problem that is impacting them personally,” Sheila Kohanteb, forum executive director at the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflict, said in a release. “Many are also worried about the impact on democracy including the ways misinformation fuel hate crimes and extreme political beliefs.”