Man with knife who threatened Black man and yelled slurs sentenced for hate crime in Paola

A Kansas man was sentenced to over two years in federal prison after threatening a Black man with a knife in 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

On Sept. 11, 2019, Colton Donner, 27, was driving through Paola, Kansas, when he saw a Black man walking on the sidewalk. Donner got out of his car, threatened the man with a knife and started yelling racial slurs, according to court documents.

Donner told the victim that Paola is a “white town,” according to court documents.

Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the DOJ’s civil rights division, said racially-motivated threats have no place in society.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure living in their communities, without being subject to racially-motivated crimes seeking to drive them from their homes or neighborhoods,” Clarke said.

Donner was sentenced to 27 months in a federal prison and 18 months of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Paola Police Department and the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office.

“Every individual has the right to occupy a home free from racial discrimination, yet the defendant targeted the victim for no other reason than the victim’s race,” said Charles Dayoub, special agent in charge at the FBI’s Kansas City office. “The defendant’s actions directly undermined the victim’s right to reside in a community in Paola, and to enjoy the protections afforded under the federal civil rights act.”