Texas Man Who Knocked Out Elderly Black Man In A ‘Social Experiment Prank’ Sentenced To Six Years In Prison [Video]
Warning: Graphic Content
Conrad Barrett, a 29-year-old Texas man who knocked out a 79-year-old black man and recorded it on camera to see if his actions would create a countrywide furor, has been sentenced to six years in prison, according to New York Daily News.
The attack left the old man, later identified as Roy Coleman, with a fractured jaw in two places and a missing teeth.
In the video, which went viral in the aftermath of its release, the Texas man says “I have to step up the courage,” to hit Coleman, “to see if I hit an elderly black person, would this be televised nationally?”
“How is it going, man?” Barrett then says as he steps onto the street and the camera pans toward the victim. The Texas man gets closer to the black man, and then a smack is heard as the old man falls.
Barrett goes back to his car and laughs, saying “Knockout. Knockout, baby,” and drives away.
The full video can be see above, courtesy of Chron.
After Barrett pleaded guilty to the racially-motivated assault in June, the Texas man was sentenced to 71 months in federal prison for being culpable of what the jury considered a hate crime against a defenseless elderly man.
The videotaped incident, which took place two years ago during the Thanksgiving weekend, was finally released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice following a Freedom of Information Act request by the Houston Chronicle and other media outlets, on the grounds it had been introduced in court as evidence.
“He was out there to hurt people,” Perez said. “I would hope the public would realize what the man did.”
The defense presented a psychiatrist in court, Dr. David Self, who said Barrett’s bipolar disorder and drug use converged to “energize his willingness to pursue a goofy idea.”
The defense further noted that the Texas man had a family to support, and his behavior was a result of his drug abuse, and would not have happened “but for the presence of mental illness and substance abuse.”
However, District Judge Gray Miller held Barrett culpable for the sickening “hate crime” and sentenced the Texas man to 71 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, along with a $2,000 restitution fine, according to the Daily Mail.
Ever since the video went viral, people have been taking to social media to denounce Conrad Barrett’s actions, with most of them even saying that he deserved to be sentenced for longer than six years for attacking the old man.
However, speaking to KHOU, Roy Coleman’s daughter, Donna McNeal, said that she had forgiven the Texas man because she did not want the incident to define the rest of their lives.
“It broke my heart to see someone actually hit my father and actually knock him off his feet. But I forgive him, because you have to have forgiveness to move on with your life. This is not going to define the rest of my life.”
But Conrad Barrett will know that what he did was utterly unwarranted and completely devoid of humor. The jail sentence might just teach him that.
[Photo by Harris County Police Department via Metro]
