Two White Supremacists on the Loose in Orange County

Police are looking for Erin Brooks and Brian Hanson who police think are white supremacists who beat up a Latino man last month. Michael Powell and Bret Hicks are currently in custody for the same incident. Allegedly, all four suspects were circling a Latino neighborhood looking for someone “non-white” to assault. They saw a man come out of the neighborhood so they yelled racial slurs at him, stabbed him three times, kicked him and punched him. Neighbors from the area jumped into the fight and separated the suspects from the victim. They were all arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and Brooks and Hanson were released on bail. Now they are being charged with attempted murder plus hate crime enhancements and police can no longer find Brooks and Hanson. All of the suspects have criminal backgrounds and white supremacy tattoos.

Hate crimes occur when perpetrators attack a member of a certain group because of their race, religion, sexual identity, gender, disability, age, etc. If a crime is carried out for hate purposes, it will be given a sentencing enhancement because it is such a serious crime that can provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict emotional harm and incite community unrest. Regardless of what city you live in, whether it is Fountain Valley, Fullerton or Newport Beach, hate crimes are serious crimes and if you are charged with one, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney.

If you want to know more about hate crimes, assault or attempted murder, call Orange County criminal defense attorney William Weinberg @ 949.474.8008 in his Irvine office.