A man from Ohio was charged with committing a federal hate crime after he physically assaulted an Asian-American student in Cincinnati, because of his race.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice, Darrin Johnson, 26 was indicted by a federal grand jury on the hate crime charge and arrested on Wednesday. His case was unsealed when he appeared in federal court at 1:30 pm.
The man attacked the victim on Calhoun Street at the University of Cincinnati. The incident took place on August 17, 2021. Mr Johnson approached the student on a Cincinnati sidewalk and made racist slurs towards the victim. "Go back to your country...You brought the Kung flu here...You're going to die for bringing it." He blamed the victim for Covid, as per the indictment filed in court.
Johnson then asked the student if he wanted to fight, CNN reported.
According to the complaint filed in the federal court, Mr Johnson punched the victim on the side of his head. The force of the punch caused the victim to fall and hit his head on the bumper of a parked car, the release said.
The victim suffered a minor concussion and cuts on his face. Johnson also threatened to kill the victim.
Two individuals who witnessed the assault intervened and one held Johnson down until law enforcement arrived.
In October 2021, Johnson pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault and criminal intimidation for the incident and was sentenced to serve 360 days in county jail.
If convicted of a federal hate crime, Johnson would face up to 10 years in prison.
