One case was particularly important to me. Last December, an unhoused Black man was viciously assaulted by another man at a bus stop after being asked for money. When the victim refused, the man ran up on him causing the victim to fall back into the street. The man then began punching the victim in the face and stated, “I hate N***ers.” The victim was bleeding from the mouth and missing teeth. While the suspect was caught by the police and prosecuted for his crime–they could never find the victim and because of that he only received 4 years in state prison. Although the Great Bodily Injury and a hate crime was alleged, due to the unavailable victim, evidence supporting those allegations were not presented.
It’s no secret that hate crimes against Black people in LA continue to be on the rise. These crimes don’t just harm the individual victims—they instill fear and erode the sense of safety that every person deserves, regardless of their race or socioeconomic status.
One of the significant challenges in this case was the inability to locate the victim, which prevented the DA’s office from presenting the full evidence of the hate crime.
Many victims of hate crimes, particularly those who are unhoused or marginalized, often remain unseen and unheard by our justice system. Ask me how I know.
Prosecuting hate crimes is tough, especially when the victims are vulnerable and don’t have the resources they need. This just shows how badly we need systemic changes. We’ve got to do more to make sure that all residents of LA County–whether they live in a house, apartment, or under a freeway overpass, know they have access to the support and protection they need to get justice. It’s not enough to have these resources available if the people who need them don’t even know they exist.
I’m grateful to DA Gascón and the District Attorney’s office for their relentless pursuit of justice in this case and all of the hate crimes they’ve prosecuted. I hope that the victim in this case learns one day that justice was served on his behalf and that others in similar situations know that they can step forward and come to our DA’s office if they have been the victim of a hate crime.
