Man sentenced to 34 years in prison in Carson City's first convicted hate crime

Travis Mickelson, a Dayton resident, was sentenced to 11 to 34 years in prison Thursday in Carson City District Court in what was tried and prosecuted as Carson City's first hate crime.

In November of 2018, Mickelson was convicted by a jury in Judge James Russell's court of attempted murder with hate crime enhancements, as well as battery and assault with a deadly weapon.

In 2017, Mickelson shot more than a dozen rounds into a vehicle occupied by five Sikh men visiting the area, injuring one.

It took the jury less than three hours to convict Mickelson on all four charges, which were: Attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon and discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

Sentencing was originally scheduled for Dec. 31, 2018, but had been pushed back several times until the sentencing took place Thursday.

Using offensive language, Mickelson claimed he had shot into the vehicle because men he thought were Muslims had looked at his wife in a way that “creeped her out.”

He further stated he believed the men were going to run him off the road and rape his wife, which, he claimed, was happening throughout the country.

The incident took place after leaving a convenience store. According to phone recordings made by Mickelson to family remembers while in custody, he said his wife went into the convenience store without shoes on, and the men were looking at her. Mickelson told them the woman was his wife, and they asked why she wasn’t wearing shoes. He told the family member on the recording that Muslim men had a problem with barefoot woman.

During witness testimony the men said they never made any such comment about the woman not having shoes, only having observed with their eyes the woman didn’t have any shoes on.

The five men in the vehicle, who are of the Sikh faith, not the Muslim faith, with family from India and not the Middle East, said they had no idea what had happened the night. They were driving on Highway 50 East and attempted to pass a Dodge van that was in the slow lane when Mickelson opened fire between 2 and 4 feet of the vehicle, hitting it multiple times, including through windows, with one of the bullets striking Harmandeep Singh Shergill in the torso area.

“I wish I would have killed one of them,” Mickelson was heard telling a family member during a recorded phone call the morning after the shooting.

During the sentencing, his defense attorney spoke about Mickelson's reasons and character.

“He did not go out that evening looking for trouble,” said Mickelson's defense attorney. “He did not follow them looking for trouble. He believed he was in danger and that he needed to use his firearm to protect himself. He realizes now he overreacted. He is not an evil person.”

“Based on the color of their skin and the language they were speaking, Mr. Mickelson decided these men were Muslim terrorists,” said Carson City's Prosecuting Attorney Melanie Brantingham. “You heard it in his own words. He was convicted of attempted murder by a jury, with a hate crime enhancement. He still maintains he was acting in self-defense.”

His defense attorney asked for probation, due to his lack of a criminal history, and that he knows now these men were not a threat to him. He went on to say that since Mickelson now has a felony conviction, he will not be allowed to own firearms, so this incident wouldn’t be likely to happen again.

“I think he’s learned to think a little bit more before he acts,” said his defense attorney.

Tensions flared between defense and prosecution regarding a claim that Mickelson had been a model inmate during the year and a half at the jail.

Brantingham rebutted this claim with an email provided to the court, which stated that in his time spent in the Carson City Jail, Mickelson had been written up multiple times for having contraband, misusing phone privileges, and more.

"This shows that Mr. Mickelson will do what he wants, when he wants," she said. "Who's to say he won't get a gun just because he's not supposed to?"

“The hate and the violence shown in this crime were frankly shocking,” said Brantingham. “What makes him deserving of any breaks? There’s nothing that should say to you if he got out he wouldn’t do the same thing again.”

Brantingham asked for Mickelson to be sentenced on the hate crime enhancement of the crime for attempted murder instead of the deadly weapon enhancement, as only one could be used.

“The gun was the instrument used,” she said. “Hate was the reason.”

Mickelson spoke to the court during sentencing. “I’m not a threat to the community," he said. "My actions were based on a perception that these men were a threat to me and my wife. I was just trying to protect myself and my family."

He told the court two months before the incident, his best friend had been killed in a vehicle crash, and now believes that trauma may have added to his overreaction. He said his actions were not based on hate.

He was sentenced to 545 days credit for time served.

On Count One, attempted murder, he was sentenced to a minimum of 36 months and a maximum of 120 months, with a consecutive hate crime enhancement sentencing of 36 - 120 months.

On Count Two, battery with a deadly weapon, he was sentenced to a minimum of 32 months and a maximum of 84 months with a consecutive deadly weapon enhancement of 32 - 84 months to run consecutive.

For Count Three, assault with a deadly weapon, a minimum of 12 months with a maximum of 48 months with a deadly weapon enhancement, both of which will run concurrent with counts one and two.

Count Four, discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, he was sentenced to a minimum of 12 months with a maximum of 48, which will also run concurrent to counts one and two.

In total, he is facing 34 years in prison.

"I'm very very pleased with the District Attorney's Office. This is a small community. We don't see or tolerate this kind of crime. It was very aggressive, very hateful with no justification other than pure hate," said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong regarding Thursday's sentencing.

To learn more about the jury trial, click here.