Hate crime charges filed against 2 in Black man’s beating

INVERNESS, Fla. (AP) — Two white Florida men have been charged with a federal hate crime for allegedly beating a Black man in a store parking lot while yelling racial slurs. The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that 55-year-old Roy Lashley and 52-year-old Robert Lashley were indicted by a grand jury. The pair had already been charged with assault and battery under state law for the November attack of the Black man. The assault took place in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store in Citrus County, north of the Tampa area. Federal court records don’t list an attorney for either man. It isn’t clear how or if they are related.