Man sentenced for hate crime against Asian American officer

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego man who struck an Asian American police officer and yelled racial insults at the lawman pleaded guilty Wednesday to battery on a peace officer and a hate crime allegation.

John Richards, 68, was sentenced to one year of probation and 141 days in custody, 60 of which to be served in an inpatient residential treatment program, according to the San Diego City Attorney’s Office.

Richards was being transported to a hospital on Aug. 26, 2022, when he “began hurling racial insults at an Asian American police officer, while also yelling that the officer should have been killed,” the City Attorney’s Office said.

He then hit the officer and tried to kick him, according to the City Attorney’s Office, which highlighted the incident as an example of a rising trend of hate-related crimes against Asian Americans at the time.

“Our country has witnessed an unacceptable level of anti-Asian hate crimes, which is why we are determined to respond forcefully to every local incident,” San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott said in a statement. “This police officer was simply doing his job when he was attacked because of his Asian ancestry. We all have an obligation to confront race-based hatred when we see it.”

Just recently, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Southern California man with a hate crime for allegedly punching an Asian American woman in the head in Culver City while he shouted racial slurs at her.

Jesse Allen Lindsey, 37, was charged with one count of committing a hate crime, a felony offense that carries a possible maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

“Hate-fueled violence has no place in our society,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “We live in one of the most diverse areas of the country, and that diversity brings us strength. Our community will stay united in condemning intolerance, and my office will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who harm others on account of bigotry.”

Since 2020, over 11,000 cases of anti-Asian hate have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, an organization co-founded by AAPI Equity.

Earlier this year, Microsoft and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), a nonprofit civil rights organization, have launched a digital resource to help combat anti-Asian hate and raise awareness of the challenges faced by the AAPI community. (With CNS report)

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