Hate Crime Suspected in Anaheim Attack

In what police suspect is a hate crime, two suspected skinhead gang members, one wielding a bolt cutter, kicked and struck a Vietnamese man near the Anaheim Convention Center early Thursday.

The victim, whom police did not identify, was taken to Western Medical Center, where he was treated for cuts on his head and hands. He was in fair condition.

Police arrested Dwayne Everett Merchant, 23, and Mike James Merrifield, 19, both from Anaheim, minutes after the attack on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of dangerous weapons, and violation of civil rights with the use of force.

The two suspects were being held on $50,000 bail. The two also have parole violations, police said.

“It would appear that the victim was targeted for no other reason than his ethnicity,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said. “No words were exchanged. There was no confrontation.”

The victim had been attending an event at the convention center and went outside shortly after midnight for fresh air, Vargas said. He then apparently fell asleep on the bench.

Several convention center employees chased the suspects into a parking structure and held them until police arrived.

There were 226 hate crimes against Asians in California in 1997, compared with 188 the year before, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The Orange County Human Relations Commission, which has been tracking hate-related crimes in Orange County since 1991, recorded 145 hate crimes in 1997, 20 of them targeting Asians.