Sean Walter Tonkin faces federal charges of committing a racially motivated hate crime resulting in the death of Jon Rone Jr., inset. (Rone’s photo from his obituary; Crime scene screenshot from ABC Kansas City, Missouri, affiliate KMBC-TV)
A Florida man faces federal hate crime charges after authorities said he hurled racial slurs at a Black man outside a Kansas City, Missouri, gas station in a deadly and unprovoked attack.
Sean Walter Tonkin, 36, faces charges of committing a racially motivated hate crime resulting in the death of Jon Rone Jr., 42.
Rone was stabbed just before 2:30 p.m. July 4 outside the Liquor Land gas station in Kansas City. Authorities said Tonkin used racial epithets and threats before stabbing Rone twice in the chest and abdomen, prosecutors said in a news release. He was arrested a couple of miles away.
He allegedly had a bloody folding knife with an American flag painted on the handle, The Kansas City Star reported, citing Jackson County court records.
Initially, he was charged with misdemeanor disturbing the peace and meth possession by Jackson County prosecutors, prompting outrage by the victim’s family.
Mike Mansur, a spokesman for that office, said in a statement published in an article on July 24 in the Star that prosecutors were weighing additional state charges against the suspect as they “examine who started the incident, what weapons were used by the people involved and Missouri’s law on self-defense.”
“We vigorously and categorically condemn that language and its usage in any circumstance,” Mansur said, the paper reported. “We have filed the available Missouri charges that address those racist comments which were made to Jon Rone in a face-to-face manner.”
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Mansur said in an email to Law&Crime on Thursday that his office has not moved forward with other charges as they await the federal government’s review.
Rone’s sister told the newspaper the suspect intentionally went looking for a problem, saying a witness told her that before the stabbing, Tonkin asked whether she would like to see “a white boy f— up a n—–,” the paper reported.
“So how can (Tonkin) not be the aggressor?” she said. “I can barely sleep. I can barely eat. Today is the first time I’ve seen my stepkids because I’ve been depressed. Not only trying to grieve my brother but the fact that the person that killed him is getting away with it.”
Rone’s obituary said he was the father of two sons. In his early years, he loved playing football and basketball, cutting hair, and rapping, the obit said.
He enjoyed watching his nephews play basketball.
“He would always fuss at them to stick together and never fight each other,” the obituary said. “He also was a CNA and loved taking care of the elderly.
“Mike’s pride and joy was his sons Mike Jr and JoJo. He was always so proud of their height and interest in sports. He would always laugh about how good Mikey was in football and JoJo being a beast in basketball.”
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