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Penal Law § 490.28 · Article 490. Terrorism

Domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)

§ 490.28 Domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree.

A person is guilty of the crime of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree when, acting with the intent to cause the death of, or serious physical injury to, five or more other persons, in whole or in substantial part because of the perceived race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, or sexual orientation of such other person or persons, regardless of whether that belief or perception is correct, he or she, as part of the same criminal transaction:

1. causes the death of at least one other person, provided that the victim or victims are not a participant in the criminal transaction; and

2. causes or attempts to cause the death of four or more additional other persons, provided that the victims are not a participant in the criminal transaction; and

3. the defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the commission of the crime.

Domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree is a class A-I felony.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is convicted of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree, the sentence shall be life imprisonment without parole.

Source of truth

Edition
Law content up to date as of October 23, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
Official file
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/PEN490.28
Text hash
sha256 002b5ed0391d06bce348a47b142376d47480aa31ff9036bc430aef56cfbbeb4e
Composed by
gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.