A Texas man pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges this week in connection with a 2020 attack on an Asian family at a Sam’s Club.
Per a report from NBC News, 21-year-old Jose Gomez III pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime and admitted to having cut a customer, their six-year-old child, and a Sam’s Club worker who intervened on the attack. Gomez, of Midland, is said to have confronted a Burmese family because he believed they were Chinese and “responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.”
U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas said Wednesday that this variety of “hate-based violence” has “no place in our society,” adding that authorities will continue to pursue similar actions against others who engage in such attacks.
“These victims and others who suffer such brutal, hate-based attacks deserve justice and to live without fear in our communities,” Hoff said.
According to the Justice Department, Gomez was behind an Asian family “with young children” at a Sam’s Club Warehouse in Midland on March 14, 2020. Gomez is said to have followed the family for several minutes before ultimately brandishing a “serrated steak knife” he found in the store. The blade was bent, per the DOJ, so that it rested against Gomez’s knuckles with the sharp edge facing in the outward direction. Gomez first punched the father in the face, ultimately cutting him.
At this point, Gomez left the scene but quickly returned with an eight-inch knife and “slashed open” the face of the family’s six-year-old child. The Sam’s Club employee was also stabbed while trying to intervene on Gomez’s attack, which also saw the 21-year-old screaming “Get out of America!”
Gomez now faces a maximum sentence of life behind bars, as well as a fine of $250,000 for each charge.
