ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A South Orange County couple who were arrested for assault after their racially-charged encounter with a solar panel worker went viral on TikTok in 2025 were convicted on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
State Attorney Monique Worrell, on Wednesday, trumpeted the conviction and promoted the Ninth Judicial Circuit\u2019s Hate Crime Task Force.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen crimes occur, we will get involved and we will prosecute because people don\u2019t have a right to place other people in fear,\u201d Worrell said.<\/p>\n
Steven Edwin Wiley and Cheryl Ann Pyle were found guilty of assault evidencing prejudice for the July 2025 incident.<\/p>\n
Wiley and Pyle were seen on camera coming out of the home toward the worker, Antavius Johnson, using various expletives and racially charged language.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet your Black (expletive) the (expletive) out of here,\u201d the man could be heard saying on the video, which Johnson took. \u201cYou come back again, I\u2019m gonna hang you.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with News 6 last year, Johnson said that he tried to go to the nearest neighbor\u2019s house, but Pyle and Wiley followed him.<\/p>\n
Johnson, joining Worrell at the news conference on Wednesday, choked up while talking about the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say, even though the case is over with this incident, it\u2019s not just words. I still have to live with this trauma from having PTSD, and anxiety break out. I just want most people to know that…\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n
The charge Wiley and Pyle were convicted of, assault evidencing prejudice, is a hate crime enhancement in Florida.<\/p>\n
Worrell said Wiley and Pyle tried to argue they were exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, but a jury disagreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA jury here in Orange County rendered a verdict that sent a message to the citizens of this place that hate speech will not be tolerated, and in fact, it will be prosecuted. That conviction is a clear statement that this conduct is criminal and not just offensive,\u201d Worrell said.<\/p>\n
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