Hate Crime Plea Deal Brings Prison Sentence
An Oklahoma City man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors in connection with a 2023 hate crime attack. Court records show 28-year-old Braden Birdsong admitted responsibility for a racially motivated assault outside a local restaurant.
Prosecutors say Birdsong attacked a Black male employee in the restaurant’s parking lot while shouting racial slurs and anti-Black rhetoric during the assault.
Prosecutors Emphasize Accountability
The plea deal avoids a trial while still securing a lengthy prison sentence. Prosecutors said the case met the legal standard for a hate crime because the attack was motivated by race and accompanied by explicit verbal threats…