Los Angeles County police are investigating a possible hate crime after a suspect drove a car into a crowd Tuesday at a “Stop Asian Hate” rally.
A man driving the vehicle yelled racial swear words as he drove the car down the pedestrian route where the protest took place, according to ABC News. Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva said the department is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
Video shows protesters trying to cross a street on the crosswalk in Diamond Bar, when a man shouts “F — China” and makes a U-turn to drive through the intersection where the protesters walked.
No one was hit by the vehicle and no injuries were reported to the police.
“The audacity of doing this at an anti-hate rally speaks to the level that people will go to harass and bully colored communities,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn
Janice Kay Hahn Spanish Democrats Build Capital With Big Primary Wins Los Angeles County, City Stops Curfew The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented By Facebook – Trump Tweets As Tensions Escalate In US MORE said in a statement, according to ABC7 News.
The suspect was identified as a white man in his 50s, police announced and said they could track him down from photos of his license plate taken during the incident.
Since a series of shootings in massage parlors in the Atlanta area that killed several Asian-American women, activists and lawmakers have warned of the growing threat of violence against Asian minorities in the US.
After last week’s shootings, several “Stop Asian Hate” demonstrations have taken place in cities across the country.