An assault which took place on Cumberland Avenue in August is being looked upon as a hate crime by the Knox County District Attorney’s office.
According to Darrell DeBusk, spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department, a couple was walking down Cumberland Avenue when they were approached by Anthony Wayne Johnson, who began harassing the couple.
The male subject being harassed “called a friend instead of the police to take care of the man,” who was inebriated, according to DeBusk.
The friend, Nick Khaldi arrived on the scene and the suspect allegedly used racial and ethnic slurs to refer to him, according to statements by Khaldi.
Police arrived after a fight began between Johnson and Khaldi.
Johnson was arrested on ground of aggravated assault and public intoxication. He is also being charged with resisting arrest for struggling with officers during his apprehension, DeBusk said.
The Knoxville District Attorney General’s office will prosecute the offense sometime in October.
John Gill, special counsel to District Attorney Randy Nichols said, “We will definitely be pursuing a hate crime charge after the initial aggravated assault conviction. There is some confusion about this process, though,” he said. “A person cannot officially be charged with a hate crime.”
In fact, Gill goes on to say that “any crime can be considered a hate crime, provided that the motivation is there. A hate crime charge, however, is an aggravating factor that is brought into the sentencing process.”
Congress adopted this ideal in 1994 as the Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act. The act calls for stricter sentencing procedures for crimes in which the victim is selected because of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or any other such characteristic.
If successfully prosecuted on the charges and if the aggravating hate factor is proven, Johnson could be facing a much tougher penalty than would normally be dealt for an aggravated assault charge.
This is Johnson’s fourth aggravated assault charge since 1994, but he has yet to serve any time for his three previous convictions. It was not immediately clear where and when the other charges occurred.
– Brooks Brown contributed to this story.
