Fil-Am leaders to hold Vegas protest rally for elderly Filipino hate crime victim

A bloodied Amadeo Quindara and Jacqueline de Joya, president of NaFFAA Nevada, who will lead a protest on his behalf. INQUIRER FILE

Filipino American leaders in Nevada will be holding a “Rally Against Asian Hate” to call for justice for Amadeo Quindara, 75, who was brutally beaten last May by a neighbor who also verbally assaulted him with racist slurs.

The protest will take place in front of the Regional Justice Center at 10 a.m. on June 29.

Jacqueline de Joya, president of the National Federation of Filipino American Association of Nevada, told KTNV:

“When Filipino Americans heard about this brutal attack, we took it very personally, because the first thought we had was ‘That could have been my dad.’ In the Filipino American community, we’re very family-oriented, and we revere our elders. So we felt like our own father had been attacked – it hit us right in our hearts. These kinds of hate crimes, which have been skyrocketing against Asian Americans, are absolutely unacceptable, especially here in our Las Vegas community.”

Quindara’s neighbor, Christian Lentz, 44, faces charges of felony residential burglary upgraded to elder abuse as a hate crime.

Lentz allegedly scolded Quindara, as the latter was conversing in his own garage with a friend, and ordered him to “speak English, you Japanese.” Lentz allegedly returned later and attacked Quindara, who suffered a black eye, bruises to his face and deep cuts on his head.

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Lentz could face one to 10 years in jail, plus a consecutive sentence of another one to 10 years.

However, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said that the court may also treat elder abuse as a gross misdemeanor. This would reduce Lentz’s possible sentence to a maximum of just 364 days and up to $2,000 in fines.

Lentz is scheduled to return to court on July 3.