Prison time ordered for Bloomington hate crime

Posted on July 6, 2021
Marshall Blanchard, 22, of Bloomington. (Photo courtesy: McLean County Jail)

By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – A man is going to prison for riding his motorcycle through a crowd of protesters, injuring two of them in downtown Bloomington last year.

Judge William Workman followed prosecutors’ recommendation to sentence Marshall Blanchard, 22, of Bloomington to seven years in prison.

Blanchard pleaded guilty in April to a hate crime in return for the state’s attorney’s office agreeing to dismiss 16 other charges.

A group had been marching near Front and Madison Streets following a rally to protest George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis Police.

Authorities said a 22-year old woman who had been marching that evening suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries to her legs and torso after Blanchard drove his motorcycle into the crowd. She was treated in the emergency room of a local hospital.

A second person, a 28-year old man, was treated at another local hospital for injuries to his arm.

Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected]. 

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