He threatened a Muslim family that planned to move to his neighborhood. Now, he'll go to prison.

By Eli Rosenberg
June 12 at 10:29 PM

Kaderbhai Ali Asgar left India to find a place where he would be able grow as a chemical engineer, landing in a country he believed was “the land of the free.” His dreams mostly held true as he and his family made their lives in Tampa, until November 2016, when they were on the verge of moving to Davis Islands, an upscale island neighborhood near the city’s downtown.

Asgar and his wife had entered into contract for a house in the area and had scheduled a final walkthrough of the property with the two sellers, Asgar’s wife’s parents, two realtors, movers and a cleaning person. Asgar, who is Muslim, was wearing a topi, a woven cap with religious meaning, and his wife and mother-in-law wore headscarves. But after they arrived at the house, a neighbor, who law enforcement officials later identified as David H. Howard, walked toward the home, yelling at the seller and Asgar’s family.

“This sale will not take place!” Howard yelled, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors. “I will break all of your f—ing windows and I will burn your f—ing house down!” He then said, “You are not welcome here!” and later asked a mover if he was “moving the dotheads in” and made insulting remarks about Muslims to neighbors, court documents said. The family canceled the purchase of the home as they no longer felt safe.

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The case has come to some closure for Asgar and his family; Howard was sentenced to eight months in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a criminal violation of the federal Fair Housing Act, civil rights laws dating to the 1960s that outlaws, among other things, threatening or interfering with another person’s housing rights because of their race or religion.

Howard has also been ordered to pay $30,000 of restitution to Asgar, for the deposit that Asgar and his family lost when they canceled the closing on the home.

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full article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/06/12/he-threatened-a-muslim-family-that-planned-to-move-to-his-neighborhood-now-hell-go-to-prison/