Hate Crime Charge for Santa Cruz Man Who Attacked Black Man
SANTA CRUZ (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged a 44-year-old man on Tuesday with a hate crime for attacking a Black man with a knife on a San Francisco Bay Area street this summer.
The Department of Justice said in a press release that Ole Hougen, who is white, confronted a 29-year-old Black man in Santa Cruz in July and yelled racial slurs while trying to slash at him.
As he was being arrested, Hougen also hurled racial taunts at a Santa Cruz officer who is Latino, prosecutors said.
Previously, Hougen threatened and assaulted two Black men in incidents in 2014 and 2018, according to the complaint.
It was not immediately known whether Hougen had retained a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
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