A Texas man entered a guilty plea Feb. 23 to hate crimes after he reportedly attacked an Asian family in a grocery store, saying they were responsible for starting the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a Feb. 23 news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, 21-year-old Jose Gomez III, of Midland, Texas, pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime for attacking the family after reportedly stalked through a Sam's Club Warehouse store.
“This type of hate-based violence has no place in our society and will not be tolerated," U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas said in the release. "These victims and others who suffer such brutal, hate-based attacks deserve justice and to live without fear in our communities. We will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws that protect civil rights and combat bias-motivated violence.”
Gomez reportedly entered the store in March 2020 and followed the family he had never seen before and believed to be Chinese. After deciding they were a threat, he grabbed a knife from the store and used it to hit and cut the family's father. He reportedly grabbed another knife from the store and continued attacking the family, including a six-year-old child he "wanted to kill," according to the news release.
Gomez is also reported to have stabbed an employee who was trying to stop him from hurting more people, the release said.
Gomez faces a $250,000 fine for each offense and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
