A firefighter who attacked an Asian American man claims he was drugged before the attack.
Bentonville Fire Department Capt. Benjamin Snodgrass, 44, was charged with third-degree assault for attacking Liem Nguyen outside Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs on 13 March.
Snodgrass approached Nguyen and asked if he knew this was a America before pushing him to the ground.
Nguyen punched Snodgrass in self-defence but Snodgrass punched back.
Snodgrass’s attorney has since claimed his client was unknowingly drugged at a bar before the incident.
He is pleading not guilty and his attorney said the battery charge should be dropped.
The probable cause affidavit says Snodgrass attacked Liem Nguyen “for not being American.”
Nguyen’s attorney conversely said that Snodgrass’s resignation from the fire department following the incident suggests guilt.
There has been a recent rise in attacks on Asians across America. In response, a Brooklyn woman is giving out free safety alarms to Asian Americans in New York City.
Recent attacks against the country include an Asian woman who was hit in the face in Philadelphia.
In California, Vietnamese family was tied up in their own home by robbers who stole their entire life savings in Oakland, California.
Also in California, an elderly Asian American woman was kicked in the face by a suspect who was on parole for fatally stabbing his mother.
Most recently, an Asian woman was followed, attacked and robbed at gunpoint in San Francisco.
