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Chicago Woman Sentenced to 2 Years, 9 Months for Hate-Crime Firebombing of Venezuelan Neighbors

Prosecutors said she admitted targeting the family because of their Venezuelan origin under a housing-rights hate-crime statute.

Overview

  • U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins imposed the prison term following Ana M. Hernandez’s guilty plea to unlawfully interfering with housing rights.
  • Prosecutors said Hernandez, 70, threw a glass bottle with oil and a cloth onto a Logan Square porch on March 16, 2024, igniting a fire.
  • No injuries were reported, and two residents were asleep inside at the time of the attack.
  • Investigators said she left a handwritten note on the landlord’s car telling the tenants to “go back to your country” and warning they could leave “the easy way or the hard way.”
  • The U.S. Attorney’s Office released a short surveillance video clip of the incident as the case concluded with sentencing.