A Midland man has pleaded guilty to a hate crime charge for attacking an Asian family, including a 6-year-old whose face was slashed.
Jose Gomez III, 21, said he believed the family was responsible for COVID-19 because he thought they were Chinese, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
The DOJ said Gomez also punched the child's father and attacked a Midland Sam’s Club Warehouse employee because he wanted to kill the child and the worker was preventing him from doing so.
Gomez pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime.
“The defendant violently and horrifically attacked an unsuspecting innocent family because of how they looked and where he thought they came from,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas said. “This type of hate-based violence has no place in our society and will not be tolerated. These victims and others who suffer such brutal, hate-based attacks deserve justice and to live without fear in our communities. We will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws that protect civil rights and combat bias-motivated violence.”
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