A man arrested in connection with an attack on a father pushing his one year old in a stroller will be charged with hate crimes, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced on Saturday.
Sydney Hammond is accused of punching the 36-year old Asian American father outside a grocery store. Police say he was identified using surveillance video and arrested shortly after.
CBS5 reports surveillance video also connects Hammond to another attack on an Asian American the day before around 1 p.m. The 61-year-old victim says he was on his way to work when attacked.
That victim told CBS5 he hit his head on a street pole and fell to the ground, and that no one in the area helped him.
When arrested, Hammond was out of custody from an incident at the same grocery store where he is accused of theft and assaulting a store employee.
Boudin said he’s received “new evidence” that “Hammond’s attacks on Asian victims” were “racially motivated.”
Boudin has been under intense pressure in San Francisco by those who feel he needs to take a tougher stand to keep suspects locked up.
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