A former Columbia high school star athlete got 25 years in prison Tuesday for a hate crime-inspired ‘reign of terror’ of stalkings and violent armed robberies against Hispanics.
Michael Knox, 29, who in 2014 made headlines of a different kind when his C.A. Johnson High School basketball team won a state championship. On Tuesday, he was the last of a four-person gang that targeted Hispanics to be sentenced.
In 2021, Knox and his gang carried out at least 15 ambush-type robberies in and around Columbia, crimes marked by the fact that Knox and his accomplices lurked around convenience and grocery stores where Hispanics shopped, then followed their victims to their homes. More Hispanics were likely robbed but didn’t report the crimes, according to law enforcement officials…