Union Square Chess Player Sentenced For Anti-White Killing

UNION SQUARE, NY — A man who attacked three people, one fatally, after promising to "knock out" the next white person he saw was sentenced to 25 years in state prison, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Lashawn Marten, 44, was found guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime and two counts of assault as a hate crime in July, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said on Tuesday. Marten was a frequent chess player in Union Square and believed to be homeless. His defense attorneys said he had a history of mental illness.

Prosecutors said at trial that on a September afternoon in 2013, Marten promised to "knock out" the next white person who passed him in Union Square. Marten, who is black, then punched 62-year-old Jeffrey Babbitt in the face as Babbitt walked by, according to evidence presented at trial. (For breaking news alerts and daily newsletters, subscribe to Patch.)

Babbitt, who was white, fell to the ground and hit his head on the pavement. Two bystanders, both white men, came to Babbitt's aid, after which Marten hit both of them in the head, knocking one unconscious.

Babbitt died days later from his injuries. One of the men Marten attacked suffered a broken rib and memory loss from the attack, according to authorities.

"One afternoon in crowded Union Square, Lashawn Marten made good on his threat to punch the next white person he saw, setting off a chain of events that left one man dead and two others wounded," Vance said in a statement.

"There is no justification for street violence of any kind, but street violence fueled by hatred and prejudice is particularly inexcusable. As the jury concluded, this was not a series of random attacks – Lashawn Marten targeted victims solely on the basis of their skin color."

Marten also reportedly went by the name Martin Redrick, according to the New York Times. Marten was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2007, according to the Times.

Image credit: Andrew Burton / Stringer / Getty Images News