Courts

Hate crime enhancer remains in La Crosse park attack case

Published

3 years ago

August 12, 2021

A La Crosse judge decided Thursday to leave a “hate-crime enhancer” in place, in the case against a local man accused of harassing two teenagers because of sexual orientation.

Travis Crawford is charged with kicking a teenage boy, after allegedly making anti-gay remarks about him and his transgender girlfriend.

Defense attorney Tom Locante said in court he doesn’t approve of the alleged slur against the couple, but objects to the hate crime designation.

Prosecutor Emily Ruud argued that the hate crime element does apply in this case. Judge Gloria Doyle said the facts do support the hate crime enhancer.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.