Man Agrees To Plead Guilty To Hate Crime

 

CREDIT: booking.com

A man from Glendale, California has agreed to plead guilty to a hate crime after he was part of an attack on a Turkish restaurant in Beverly Hills.

The man threw chairs at customers, screamed anti-Turkish slurs, and damaged the business's property. 

William Stepanyan (23) agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and one hate crime charge.

He could be facing a maximum of 15 years in federal prison.

In April, he was charged in the November attack alongside Harutyun Harry Chalikyan (23) of Tujunga. Chalikyan will be facing court on October 26th, and will face one count of conspiracy and five charges of hate crime.

The two were part of a nine men group who texted each other about "hunting for Turks" while on their way to a rally on November 4th. 

They were on their way to a rally to protest against Turkey's military aggression against Armenians.

Afterwards, they drove to a Turkish restaurant "because they considered the restaurant symbolic of Turkey and believed that Turkish people would be present."

After their arrival, they took part in flipping tables and plexiglass barriers. They also began to rush towards customers yelling anti-Turkish slurs, asking them if they were Turkish, and screaming "We came to kill you! We will kill you!"

Some of the present customers suffered injuries from the attack, mostly due to the throwing of chairs. The group cause around $20,000 worth of damage and fled before police arrived at the scene.