30 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita man is facing multiple years in prison after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly using guns, death threats and racial slurs to intimidate Black people and interfere with multiple federally-protected rights.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Austin Schoemann, 30, of Wichita, allegedly brandished a firearm and used racial slurs in order to threaten two Black children while they were entering a gas station. The indictment also alleges he used a firearm to threaten another Black person who intervened in support of the two kids.
Additionally, the news release says Schoemann is alleged to have interfered with the federally-protected housing rights of a woman by “making threats to hurt or kill any Black people who visited her home.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office says Schoemann is suspected of standing outside the woman’s household and shouting threats and racial slurs when he believes she had Black visitors in her house. He also allegedly distributed videos and messages to the woman’s family, in which he allegedly threatened to shoot and kill Black people.
If convicted, Schoemann could face up to over 22 years in prison. The FBI Kansas City Field Office investigated the case.