Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Monday that his office has won the first civil hate crime lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s office.

As a result of Raoul’s lawsuit, a Carroll County Circuit Court judge ordered two former Carroll County residents, who are white, to pay more than $90,000 for their months-long campaign of intimidation against their neighbor, who is a Black man.

“This behavior is shocking, racist and un-American. I appreciate the judge’s order that shows such despicable behavior will not be tolerated in our state,” Raoul said. “With dramatic increases in reported hate crimes, I will continue to use all of the tools at my disposal to prosecute hate crimes and send the message that hate has no place in Illinois.”

In the case prosecuted by Raoul’s office, Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Jerry Kane found that Chad Hampton, 49, of Victoria, and his mother, Cheryl Hampton, 70, of Rock Island, violated the Illinois Hate Crime Act by engaging in intimidation and disorderly conduct toward their neighbor, Gregory Johnson.

Kane ordered Chad and Cheryl Hampton to each pay a $5,000 civil penalty, as well as actual and punitive damages of $45,000 each to Johnson.

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According to Raoul’s lawsuit – filed in June 2022 – Chad and Cheryl Hampton engaged in months of racist behavior aimed at intimidating Johnson, including displaying a racial slur in front of a Confederate flag in a window directly facing the victim’s home. Chad Hampton also had previously displayed swastikas in direct view of Johnson’s home. Raoul alleged in his lawsuit that the escalating harassment came to a head with the Hamptons using a noose to lynch a bound and chained effigy of a Black man made to resemble Johnson from a tree directly in view of Johnson’s home.

The public is warned that the complaint contains images that may be disturbing.

Raoul filed the lawsuit following a hate crimes investigation by his office’s Civil Rights Bureau with assistance from the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, the city of Savanna and the Savanna Police Department.

The case marks the first time Raoul has utilized expanded authority granted to his office under a 2018 amendment to the Illinois Hate Crimes Act, which allows for the Attorney General’s office to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators of hate crimes.

The Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau enforces state and federal civil rights laws prohibiting hate crimes and discrimination in Illinois.

Members of the public are encouraged to report discrimination or hate crimes by emailing CivilRights@ilag.gov or by calling the Civil Rights Hotline at 1-877-581-3692.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Mary Grieb and Assistant Attorney General Angelys Torres McBride for Raoul’s Civil Rights Bureau.