SAN JOSE \u2014 Two men were charged with hate crimes for allegedly shouting anti-gay slurs while attacking a San Jose State University student on campus last week, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Josue Medina Flores, a 19-year-old resident of Sunnyvale, and Christian Gabriel Nunez Petty, a 20-year-old resident of Fremont, were each charged with one count of felony assault with hate crime allegations and one count of misdemeanor battery, according to court records.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you hurt someone because of their race, religion, gender, or sexuality, you will be arrested and prosecuted,\u201d District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the news release. \u201cTolerance and diversity are cherished values in this community. We back up them with one voice \u2013 and the full might of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither of the defendants is affiliated with SJSU, according to a statement from the San Jose State University Police Department.<\/p>\n
Defense attorneys for Medina Flores and Nunez Petty could not immediately be reached on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The charges stem from an alleged attack that occurred around 3:44 a.m. on Saturday, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
The victim left SJSU\u2019s Campus Village with two female friends to get food and noticed the two defendants pacing around the quad as they passed through, according to a police report.<\/p>\n
As the victim walked past the two defendants, they asked him if he was gay and began to shout anti-gay slurs. The victim\u2019s group ignored the slurs and continued on their way.<\/p>\n
Medina Flores and Nunez Petty then approached and attacked the victim as they were on a walkway between the Spartan Recreation and Acquatic Center and Joe West Hall, according to the police report. Medina Flores swung his arm toward the victim as soon as he got close to him.<\/p>\n
During the attack, they allegedly punched the victim in the head more than two dozen times and kicked him, prosecutors said. They cornered him against a concrete wall as they continued to strike him, police said. They continually called the victim a slur throughout the attack.<\/p>\n
One of the victim\u2019s friends attempted to shield him from the attack and was hit in the chest and arm as well, authorities added.<\/p>\n
San Jose State University Police arrested Medina Flores and Nunez Petty as they attempted to flee campus, prosecutors said. The incident was also caught on the university\u2019s security cameras.<\/p>\n
The victim was treated for his injuries at a hospital and later released. He sustained injuries including a \u201cbump the size of a goose egg\u201d on his head and a muscle contusion on his left arm, police said. He also reported soreness on other parts of his head.<\/p>\n
SJSUPD confirmed that the agency responded to the incident and arrested the suspects involved. The victim\u2019s friend who was also injured in the attack is not affiliated with SJSU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority,\u201d the department said in a statement. \u201cWe are continuing to investigate the incident and hold those responsible accountable.\u00a0 While assaults are rare at SJSU, even one act of hate and violence is too many. We continue to work diligently to maintain a safe environment for our students, employees and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medina Flores and Nunez Petty were set to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hall of Justice. If convicted on the charges, they could face time in prison.<\/p>\n
This marks the 14th hate crime charge filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney\u2019s Office this year.<\/p>\n
Medina Flores was charged in January with a felony count of carrying a loaded firearm in public, according to court records. He was out of custody with a plea hearing set for next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2014 Two men were charged with hate crimes for allegedly shouting anti-gay slurs while attacking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,861,7,1312,723,138,181,100,88,90,89,6345,198,200,2442],"class_list":["post-474124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-bay-area-crime","tag-california","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-state-university","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-south-bay-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}