Mistake Leads to Assault

A Diamond Bar man of Asian Indian descent said he was mistaken for a Middle Easterner and assaulted in Anaheim over the weekend while celebrating his birthday at a karaoke bar.

The victim, a physical therapist at USC University Hospital, said he was leaving the bar about 1 a.m. Sunday with a group of friends and family when several Asian men picked a fight. Witnesses heard at least two people yell racial slurs about “Middle Easterners.”

The man suffered a shattered jaw and was released from the hospital Monday after undergoing surgery to have his mouth wired shut.

“All this hatred is going around and it’s just shaken me,” said the man, whose name was not released by police and who asked that it be withheld for his safety. “I never thought as a 27-year-old male, born and raised as an American here, that I would have to fear for my life.”

Anaheim police are investigating the case as a felony assault but have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime. A detective has been assigned to the case, but there have been no arrests and no suspects identified, Sgt. Rick Martinez said.

“We don’t know what started the fight,” he said. “We want to get down to the root of the problem.”

The victim and other witnesses said they do not know any other reason they were targeted. They said the suspects fled without taking their cars or money.

Rusty Kennedy, director of the Orange County Human Relations Committee, said he will be providing the family with assistance. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, there have been 25 reported hate incidents in the county against Arabs, Muslims and Middle Eastern people.

“It’s not even who you are,” Kennedy said. “It’s who you’re perceived to be. We had some Latinos targeted. We also have had Iranian or Persians, who are neither Muslim or Arab. We’ve had some [East] Indians that have been targeted.”