The Volokh Conspiracy
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Man Pleads Guilty to Driving Car at "Stop Asian Hate" Demonstrators
The plea agreement recommends that he receive probation.
From a Justice Department press release [UPDATE: link fixed] dated Oct. 24, but just posted on Westlaw a few days ago:
A Diamond Bar man pled guilty today to a federal criminal civil rights charge for disrupting a "Stop Asian Hate" rally in March 2021 by running a red light and driving through a crowded crosswalk of peaceful demonstrators while shouting racial slurs and epithets.
On the third day of trial, Steve Lee Dominguez, 57, pleaded guilty to one felony count of bias-motivated interference with federally protected activities….
According to the Plea Agreement,
Defendant drove to the "Stop Asian Hate" rally in his car, a black Honda four-door sedan. When he approached the intersection at the center of the rally, he stopped and yelled "Go back to China!" and "fuck China!" to the rally participants, including the Victims. Defendant then deliberately ran a red light and drove his car, which was at all times a dangerous weapon, through the crosswalk of the intersection. He made an illegal U-turn and cut off the route of several rally participants who were lawfully crossing the street in the crosswalk. The Victims, other adults, and a nine-year-old child had to quickly move to avoid being hit by defendant's car. Defendant then got out of his car and continued to yell racial epithets and threatening language at the rally participants, including "come on you fucking Niggers," "you Jap motherfucker," "Fuck you, you Gook!" and "Fuck you, I'll be back," among others.
The Justice Department press release also states,
He then called the police, identified himself as "John Doe" and falsely reported to police that the rally participants were blocking the street and he had to run a red light "because they were about to trample my car," according to evidence presented at trial. He also requested that police "get some control out" at the intersection.
