A Mexican father and son were brutally attacked by an allegedly drugged up man who screamed ‘I hate Mexicans,’ outside of their family’s tire shop business in Utah.
Jose Lopez, 51, and his 18-year-old son Luis Lopez were at the shop Tuesday when Alan Covington, 50, appeared. Luis was outside working on a project when Covington shouted ‘I hate Mexicans’ and ‘I’m here to kill a Mexican.’
‘I f***ing hate Mexicans,’ Covington continued, before adding ‘Are you part of the Mexican mafia?’ He held a metal bar in his hand that looked like it was from a stop sign according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Jose heard his son screaming out front, and ran outside. Covington allegedly started swinging the five-foot metal pole at the men, while Luis grabbed a bar from the tool chest to try and defend his dad.
Luis Lopez, 18 (pictured) was brutally attacked by a man screaming ‘I f***ing hate Mexicans’ outside of his father’s tire shop in Salt Lake City on Tuesday
The right side of Luis face was shattered in the attack. His father, Jose Lopez was also injured trying to protect his son
Brutal attack: Police say Alan Covington, 50 (right) was on drugs when he attacked the father and son outside of their family’s tire shop
Covington smashed Luis in the face which knocked him unconscious and then started to beat on him.
Jose tried to shield his son from the brutal attack and was hit in the arm and back.
Jose’s brother came out after hearing the noise and apparently scared off Covington who was later picked up by police.
The family says the men had never seen Covington before.
He had harassed people at a nearby salon before he found himself at the Lopez’s tire shop.
Because of statutes in Salt Lake City, Covington is being charged with two felony aggravated assaults, as well as other weapons and drug charges, but is not beoing charged with a hate crime since hate crimes are only alotted for misdemenors.
‘I, as a state prosecutor, cannot give them a measure of justice proportionate to the injury that they’re feeling, and that truly is an injustice,’ Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill toldBuzzFeed News.
‘It basically leaves us without any kind of hate crime statutory framework,’ Gill said. ‘It’s a farce is what it is.’
Gill added that he believes legislators don’t consider updating the law a priority, and says he believes that they don’t understand how hate crimes impact the community at large,
‘They have one on the books and we pat ourselves on the back,’ he said. ‘It’s an absolute abdication of responsibility by my legislature given the gravity of these offenses and the collateral impact it has on the rest of the community.’
An 3D X-ray shows the extent of the damage to Luis’ face. Pictured left before the attack
Police seen taking away the metal pipe that was used in the vicious attack on Luis and his father Jose
Luis’ sister Veronica Lopez says her family is ‘extremely disappointed’ that the case won’t be handled as a hate crime.
‘It makes my blood boil. What do they want next? Do they want him to kill someone to see that he’s dangerous?’
Veronica has set up a GoFundMe page for her brother and father’s medical expenses.
In it she writes about the extent of their injuries.
‘My dad got eight stitches in his arm and has his back severely bruised due to the blows he received.’
‘My brothers right side of his face was shattered, he had a three hour surgery to place a titanium plate from the right side of his face to his nose to be able to attach the bones and keep his eyeball in place and a plate under that.’