Massachusetts driver accused of intentionally running down man with car indicted on federal hate crime charge

A Massachusetts driver has been indicted on a federal hate crime cost for allegedly hitting and significantly injuring a person along with his automobile in a racist assault final December, the Justice Division introduced on Wednesday.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Boston, accuses the driving force, 77-year-old John Sullivan, of deliberately operating down 38-year-old George Ngo in Quincy. It alleges that Sullivan “willfully brought on bodily damage” to Ngo, who’s referred to solely by his initials within the doc, and tried to trigger bodily damage to him utilizing “a harmful weapon,” his automobile, due to Ngo’s “precise and perceived race and nationwide origin.”

Ngo, who’s Vietnamese, was hospitalized for weeks after the assault, which the person’s sister and niece each witnessed, CBS Boston reported. Prosecutors say that Sullivan hit Ngo a number of instances along with his automobile, accelerating to focus on the person after they briefly exchanged phrases over Sullivan’s rushing, in response to the information station. Sullivan allegedly shouted racist remarks at Ngo and his household within the midst of the ambush, together with feedback about how the sufferer is Asian. He allegedly informed the household to “Return to China.”

Whereas recovering from accidents sustained within the automobile collision, Ngo informed CBS Boston that he remembered Sullivan saying “I’m going to kill you guys” earlier than rushing up and hitting him twice. The primary time he was struck by Sullivan’s automobile, Ngo mentioned he grabbed onto the automobile and believed that if he had not held on, “I would be run over beneath,” in response to the station. Sullivan is accused of hitting Ngo a second time after the sufferer let go and fell again onto the bottom.

“I really feel scared going outdoors different individuals and do not know who’s going to do it once more,” Ngo informed CBS Boston final month. “I by no means seen anyone like that. I lived right here for over 30 years and we’re all the identical human beings, we should not be treating individuals like that.”

Along with the federal cost introduced this week, Sullivan additionally faces various state costs for a civil rights violation, assault and battery with a harmful weapon, reckless operation of a motorized vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident with private damage.

“Hate has no place right here in Massachusetts. As this case demonstrates, we are going to aggressively prosecute hate crimes and different civil-rights offenses dedicated due to the precise or perceived race, colour, faith, or nationwide origin of any particular person or group,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Rachael Rollins in an announcement. 

The federal cost towards Sullivan carries a most sentence of 10 years imprisonment, three years of supervised launch and a effective of as much as $250,000.

“Our ideas are with the sufferer and their household presently,” Rollins’ assertion continued. “The alleged hate-filled and violent habits of Mr. Sullivan is reprehensible and we intend to carry him accountable.”