Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A federal grand jury indicted a 56-year-old Diamond Bar man who faces two counts of bias-motivated interference with federal protected activities.
Steve Lee Dominguez is accused of shouting racial epithets, driving through a crosswalk against a red light as protesters were crossing and allegedly performed an illegal U-turn to cut off the route of several protesters lawfully crossing the street, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The incident unfolded March 2021 at a Stop Asian Hate rally at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue. The demonstrators were carrying American flags and large signs in support of their cause and were crossing legally in a marked crosswalk, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Dominguez allegedly yelled, “Go back to China!” and other racial slurs at the demonstrators,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. “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, according to the indictment. No injuries were reported,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. After the confrontation, Dominguez allegedly stopped his vehicle down the road, exited and continue yelling racial epithets and called law enforcement on the protestors. He identified himself as “John Doe” and claimed protestors were blocking the street and he needed to run a red light because protestors were going to trample his car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Dominguez was scheduled for arraignment May 12 at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Dominguez faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted on the two counts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – A San Marino man who was recorded while accelerating towards a crowd of protestors in Old Town Pasadena May 31 last year pleaded guilty to 11 felony weapons charges, prosecutors said Thursday.
Benjamin Jong Ren Hung, 28, entered into a plea agreement filed April 29 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy, transporting and receiving firearms across state lines, making false statements during purchases of firearms, possession of unregistered firearms and illegally transporting firearms across state lines to California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Hung admitted to making false statements to gun dealers in the state of Washington when purchasing four rifles and a shotgun in March 2020, falsely claiming he was a Washington resident. “The firearms dealers were not legally permitted to sell firearms to California residents,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Hung also admitted to taking part in a multi-year conspiracy in making false statements to arms dealers in Oregon to illegally transport weapons to California. He paid a co-conspirator to purchase handguns for him and had the co-conspirator claim he was Hung. The weapons were then delivered by the co-conspirator to Hung. This elaborate scheme was concocted to elude California’s strict gun laws, Hung stated in the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Hung also admitted to illegally possessing three unregistered short-barreled semiautomatic rifles, which were seized from his Lodi home in September 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. In his plea agreement, Hung admitted to taking a Glock 26 9mm handgun to a George Floyd protest May 31, 2020, where he used his customized Dodge pickup truck to antagonize protesters. Hung accelerated towards the intersection, sounded the truck’s train horn he had installed, briefly stopped, then continued through the intersection, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. As Hung fled, his truck left a large cloud of exhaust, an act sometimes referred to as “coal rolling,” Hung was found and arrested by Pasadena Police. A date for Hung to appear in court to formally enter the guilty pleas has not yet been set. This matter was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI civil rights squads and the Pasadena Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. |
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