Woman who targeted Black family guilty of disorderly conduct

McGrath Courthouse in Wakefield. File photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

SOUTH KINGSTOWN. R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island woman who told a Black family to “go back where you came from” during a racially-motivated tirade at a beachfront restaurant last summer has been convicted of disorderly conduct.

But the judge ruled that Christine Longo’s actions were not a hate crime that would have meant an enhanced sentence.

Longo, who is white, was sentenced to six months of probation and 50 hours of community service on the misdemeanor charge.

Police say Longo was at the Coast Guard House restaurant in Narragansett last June when Adote Akpabie walked in and was subjected to a profanity-laced tirade.