Des Moines, Iowa – Reports from Des Moines, Iowa claim police in the area are investigating a potential hate crime after a 22-year old man, DarQuan Jones, was found beaten on Saturday morning.
Police are allegedly on the lookout for the culprits described by witnesses as three white men.
According to a report by the Des Moines Register, Jones police he was walking to his girlfriend’s house nearby around 3:25 am when he suddenly heard a group of men yelling racist insults before they began physically assaulting him. The local police reported to the scene after witnesses called in an attack following the discovery of a badly injured Jones on the ground before being transported to a nearby hospital.
Tyia Campbell, 40, who was celebrating a friend’s birthday in a nearby apartment, heard DarQuan screaming for help outside. Campbell and her friends left their building to find out what was happening where they found DarQuan badly beaten.
“He told us (the suspects) were trying to kill him,” Campbell said. “He was bloody. He said he couldn’t breathe and thought he was dying.”
Campbell explained that the suspects were yelling slurs at DarQuan as well as her and her friends. They were yelling, “get out of our area, we’re going to get all of you out of here.”
The local NAACP chapter in the Iowa city held a press conference to address the alleged hate crime with Jones’ father in attendance where he told reporters that his son’s jaw was broken in five places. The local chapter is now pressuring officials to further investigate the attack and classify it as a hate crime.
“After speaking with Quan, his family and the witnesses that have come forward, if the story is as they state it is, then what occurred yesterday should be nothing less than a hate crime,” Kameron Middlebrooks, the president of the Des Moines NAACP said during an interview. “(DarQuan Jones) nearly had his life taken. If it wasn’t for two witnesses that came to his aid, we could have been working with the family on funeral arrangements.”
Despite the alleged racist comments reported by Jones, the Des Moines police stated that further investigation needs to be conducted before labeling it as a hate crime.
“Our detectives are continuing to investigate this case,” a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department, Sgt. Paul Parizek, said. “We do not want to compromise the integrity of the case or tip potential suspects to our progress. “Bottom line for us is that he was hurt bad, and we want to find the people responsible. We need to find them before we can determine a motive.”
When arrests are made, Daryl Jones Jr. and the NAACP said they want assault charges elevated to a hate crime if detectives determine the motive for the attack was influenced by racism, they said. This is an ongoing investigation with no suspects as of yet.
Source: blacknewschannel.com
