78-year-old man pleads guilty to committing a federal hate crime after attacking an Asian American family

Apr 5

78-year-old John Sullivan of Quincy, MA has pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act after attacking a Vietnamese American family.

On December 2, 2022, Desiree Thien, her three children, and her brother were standing outside of the post office near 40 Washington St. when they witnessed Sullivan speeding in his car. Thien’s brother confronted Sullivan about the speeding before Sullivan went on a racist rant. Thien spoke to WCVB5 and said Sullivan yelled, “Go back to China. I'm going to go into the post office and come back out in five minutes. If you're still here, I'm going to kill all of you!”

Thien said she and her brother were standing in front of Sullivan’s car, collecting his information before Sullivan got back into his car and hit her brother. "My brother pushed me aside and then the car hit him. He went rolling onto the hood. Sullivan abruptly stopped on the break. He fell down and was trying to balance when Sullivan threw racial slurs at him again and he said ‘I am going to kill you’ and he rammed into my brother again which sent him flying into the construction ditch,” Thien said to Boston 25 News.

The construction ditch Thien’s brother was knocked into was an estimated 10-15 feet deep, according to authorities. The victim suffered multiple injuries including concussions, fractures, and torn ligaments.

“Being hateful and racist is one thing, but you drop down to pure evil when you target children. For my kids, they do not deserve to be witnessing or even be a part of this discrimination toward them,” Thien said. “I want him for the rest of his life to stay in prison where he belongs because he is a danger to society. He is 77 so Satan is waiting for him with open arms.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Sullivan’s sentencing is scheduled for June 26 and he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

“This defendant’s hate-filled attack not only seriously injured the victim, but also traumatized three children in his family, solely because they were Asian American,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No person in this country should have to fear for their own or their family’s safety because of who they are or where they are from. The Justice Department is determined to stem the rising tide of hate crimes and will vigorously prosecute those who commit them.”