Jose Gomez III sentenced to 25 years in prison on hate crime charges for attacking an Asian family
The Department of Justice has announced that 21-year-old Jose Gomez III, 21, of Midland, Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on hate crime charges for attacking an Asian family of Burmese descent that he believed to be Chinese. Because of their race/ethnicity, Gomez believed the family was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Gomez pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime.
From the DOJ’s press release:
According to the facts admitted in the plea, on March 14, 2020, Gomez entered a Sam’s Club Warehouse in Midland, Texas, behind an Asian family with young children. Gomez had never seen them before and believed they were Chinese. Gomez followed them in the store for several minutes because he perceived them to be a “threat” as they were “from the country who started spreading that disease around.” Gomez then momentarily left the family to find a serrated steak knife in the store. Gomez bent the blade so that when he held the handle in his fist, the blade rested against his knuckles, sharp-edge facing outward. Gomez returned to the Asian family and punched the father, B.C., in the face, cutting him. Gomez then left to retrieve an eight-inch knife from the store. When Gomez returned to B.C., Gomez abruptly turned towards B.C.’s two young children – then aged six and two years old – who were seated in the front basket of the shopping cart. Gomez slashed open the face of R.C., the then-six-year-old child. The blade entered millimeters from R.C.’s right eye, split his right ear, and wrapped around to the back of his skull. Gomez also stabbed a white Sam’s Club employee, Z.O., who intervened to stop Gomez from further assaulting the Asian family. While being held down on the ground, Gomez yelled at the Asian family, “Get out of America!”
Gomez admitted he believed the Asian family was Chinese and that he blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic. Gomez further admitted he had attempted to kill the six-year-old child. Gomez also admitted he had attacked Z.O., the store employee, because Gomez wanted to kill the six-year-old child and Z.O. was preventing him from doing so.
