New York Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Hate Crime for Stabbing 59-Year-Old Jamaican Woman
Scott Schunzel pleaded guilty on October 22, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti to committing a hate crime in connection with the stabbing of a Newburgh resident on June 18, 2024, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jamie McDonald and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced.
According to the indictment, public filings, the plea agreement, and statements made in court, on or about June 18, 2024, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Schunzel stabbed a Black female victim with a knife because of her actual and perceived race and color while the victim was standing next to a parked fruit truck. The victim, a 59-year-old Jamaican-American woman and longtime Newburgh resident, sustained a deep wound to her left hamstring and was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where she received stitches. Shortly after the assault, law enforcement searched Schunzel's residence and found writing and materials indicating his animus against Black people, including statements relating to killing and stabbing Black women. On or about June 19, 2024, Schunzel fled to Florida, and he was later arrested by FBI officers from the Miami field office.
"Racially motivated violence has no place in our community," said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. "As he has now admitted, Scott Schunzel deliberately stabbed a Jamaican-American woman and longtime Newburgh resident with a knife because of her race and color." FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said the guilty plea recognizes both the harm inflicted on the victim, who survived the attack, and the importance of holding perpetrators of bias-motivated violence fully accountable.
Schunzel, 33, of New York, pleaded guilty to one count of committing a hate crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided for informational purposes only; any sentencing will be determined by the judge, and no sentencing date was announced in the release. The case was investigated by the FBI's New York and Miami offices, the FBI Hudson Valley White Collar Crime Task Force, the Newburgh Police Department, and the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, with assistance from the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office. The prosecution is being handled by the Office's Civil Rights and Human Trafficking Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaiya Arroyo in charge.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：纽约 Thurgood Marshall 美国法院大楼（纽约南区联邦法院所在地；Kidfly182 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，Wikimedia Commons）
