Man arrested for allegedly intimidating protesters and yelling anti-Asian slurs
A man uses his car to intimidate protesters at a #StopAsianHate rally.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, a Diamond Bar (a city in Los Angeles County) man was arrested on Thursday, May 12, on federal charges alleging that he disrupted a “Stop Asian Hate” rally in March 2021 by deliberately running a red light, blocking the path of demonstrators lawfully using a crosswalk, and yelling racial epithets at them.
56-year-old Steve Lee Dominguez has been charged in a federal grand jury indictment with two counts of bias-motivated interference with federal protected activities.
The rally was a protest against the increase in hate crimes and hate incidents against members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities – including the murders of six Asian American women just five days earlier in Atlanta.
According to the indictment, Dominguez allegedly yelled, “Go back to China!” and other racial slurs at the demonstrators. Dominguez then allegedly deliberately drove his car through the intersection’s crosswalk at the red light, made an illegal U-turn and cut off the route of several rally participants lawfully crossing the street.
One of the victims was an Asian woman carrying a sign that read, “Stop Asian Hate.” Another victim was a minor Black female rally participant who carried a sign that read, “End the Violence Against Asians.” Another person who was cut off in the crosswalk was a 9-year-old child, and Dominguez’s car narrowly missed coming into contact with her and other victims. No injuries were reported.
Dominguez allegedly then pulled his car over some distance away from the intersection, got out of the car and continued to yell racial epithets and threats at the demonstrators. He then called the police, identified himself as “John Doe” and falsely reported to police that the rally participants were blocking the street and he had to run a red light “because they were about to trample my car,” the indictment alleges. He also allegedly requested that police “get some control out” at the intersection.
Per ABC7, Dominguez pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles and was granted a $30,000 bond.
If convicted of the two charges in the indictment, Dominguez would face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
