AU student assaulted in Chinatown
Christopher Marquez said four students attacked him in a McDonald's
An AU student was assaulted and robbed while exiting a Chinatown McDonald’s on Feb. 12.
Christopher Marquez, a student in the School of Communication, told police that he was eating inside the restaurant when four suspects approached him and began to call him racist, then hit him with a handgun and stole his wallet, according to the police report.
In an interview with the Daily Caller, the first publication to break the story, Marquez said that he believed the attack was a hate crime because the attackers surrounded him and asked him “Do you believe black lives matter?”
On Feb. 18 the Metropolitan Police Department sent out a press release that said the attack happened outside the restaurant and provided security footage of the attack. They have not yet confirmed the motivation.
"I understand many people may be disturbed and angry over this violent act, especially after reviewing the surveillance footage provided by the police, but I want to remind everyone that more violence will not solve anything,” Marquez told The Eagle in an email. “I will be appalled and very angry if anyone tries to retaliate in my name. I have confidents [sic] in the police department and the judicial system. We are all Americans and should be united, not divided."
No suspects have been caught and this is still an open investigation.
Reporting contributed by Laura Turner
dmudry@theeagleonline.com
