A Colorado man will spend New Year’s Eve in prison after being charged with a bias crime for trying to strangle a TV news reporter while saying, “This is President Trump’s America now,” officials said. announced.
Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested on Dec. 18 and charged with numerous charges stemming from the unprovoked assault of KJCT reporter Jaylon Alex, 22, in Grand Junction, authorities said. It was done.
Egan remained in the Mesa County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail as of Tuesday afternoon, according to online sheriff’s records.
Alex, who is from the Pacific Islands, told investigators that he was at the scene when a Sunshine Rides taxi started following him and the taxi driver started yelling offensive language.
“Are you an American citizen too?” Egan allegedly shouted, according to the man’s arrest affidavit. “This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you.”
Alex told a manager about the threatening suspect, and she told him to return to the station “to stay in a secure building and get away from Patrick as soon as possible,” according to the affidavit. That’s what it means.
But before Alex could reach the front door, Egan “chased him” and “demanded Jaron’s identification and asked if he was American,” according to the affidavit.
The suspect then “wrestled the victim to the ground, injuring him,” and “placed him in a headlock and began strangling him,” the complaint says.
Several law enforcement officers then ran to Alex’s side and pulled Egan’s “arms from Jaron’s neck, pinning him to the ground until law enforcement arrived,” according to the affidavit.
Witnesses told investigators that Alex’s face was “red in the face while he was being strangled” by the suspect and that his “ability to breathe was impaired” during the attack, which lasted between 45 and 90 seconds, according to the complaint. I had lost it,” he said.
Egan was charged with assault by strangulation, bias-motivated crime and harassment by ethnic intimidation, jail records show.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
Mr. Egan’s attorney and a representative of the U.S. Marine Corps could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) said it “strongly condemns the harassment and physical assault” against Alex.
“This act of violence against journalists of color, motivated by racial bias, highlights the continuing threats journalists and members of marginalized communities face,” the AAJA said in a statement Monday. ” he said. “This highlights how racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, which has increased during the pandemic, has led to physical attacks against members of the AAPI community.”
Contributed by Madeline Urabe.
