A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime against an Asian family he believed was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic because he suspected they were from China, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Jose Gomez III of Midland, Texas, appeared in court Wednesday and admitted to following an Asian father, identified as B.C., and his children, who were 2 and 6 years old at the time, around a Sam’s Club on March 14, 2020, before attacking the father, the older child, and a store employee, the Justice Department said.
“An Asian family was shopping when the defendant brutally attacked them because of their race and because he blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
THREE MEN IN AHMAUD ARBERY CASE CONVICTED OF FEDERAL HATE CRIMES
After entering the store behind the family, Gomez followed the family around the store as they shopped and eventually walked off to find a steak knife, which he then placed in his fist with the sharp edge facing outward as he punched B.C. He went on to attack B.C.’s children, slashing the face of R.C., the then-6-year-old, with an 8-inch knife, according to documents filed in connection to the plea. The knife, which came within millimeters of R.C.’s right eye, split his ear and wrapped around to the back of his skull.
Gomez admitted to trying to attempt to kill the 6-year-old and attacking a store employee who was trying to prevent him from killing the child, the Justice Department said.
“The defendant violently and horrifically attacked an unsuspecting innocent family because of how they looked and where he thought they came from,” said Ashley Hoff, a U.S. attorney with the Western District of Texas. “This type of hate-based violence has no place in our society and will not be tolerated.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Gomez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine for each offense committed, according to the Justice Department’s statement.
