Why Wasn’t Racist Hate Crime Nature of Biker ‘Brawl’ in Ocean Beach Disclosed by San Diego Law Enforcement?

Now that the racist, hate-fueled attack against 3 African-American young men by a mob of local Hells Angels in OB back in early June has made national news (MSN, The Hill), several questions continue to linger.

Mainly, why weren’t the racist and hate crime elements of this vicious incident disclosed by law enforcement, the police or the press?

During the Monday, Sept 25 news conference splash announcing the indictments against 17 Hells Angels members and supporters, District Attorney Summer Stephan made this statement:

“In San Diego County, we cannot and will not tolerate violence and racism of any nature, much less crimes like this hateful, vicious and unprovoked attack.”

And San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit also stated:

“These disgusting hate-driven attacks have no place in our community. There is no stronger way to condemn this violence than to hold the perpetrators accountable to the fullest force of the law.”

Yet, until this press conference, the true nature of this attack had not been disclosed – that this was one of the most violent, racist hate crimes in recent San Diego history.

Three young Black men were attacked by up to 14 bikers, one was almost killed. In fact, the biker leader has been charged with attempted murder.

According to David Hernandez at the U-T:

One of the men was punched and kicked all over his body. As he tried to stand, he was sucker-punched and knocked unconscious, prosecutors said.

Another victim was beaten up and left curled up on a sidewalk. Prosecutors allege [Troy Andrew] Scholder then rolled him on his side and stabbed him in the chest. He suffered a “gaping wound” that exposed his lungs, Stephan said. “It is absolutely a miracle that he’s alive,” she said.

The stabbing victim, unaware of the extent of his injuries and “how close he was to death,” went over to help his unconscious friend, Stephan said.

At the press conference, prosecutors called it “a vicious and racially motivated attack on three Black men.” The three were called racial epithets by the bikers and told they didn’t belong in the community.

But why wasn’t it described that way, initially? In the first report of the incident written by U-T reporter Karen Kucher on June 7, it was described as a “large brawl” without a clue that it was a vicious and racist attack. A brawl was what the Rag reported, based on Kucher’s report.

If one compares the two articles in the U-T, the only difference in the details of the fight is the racial backgrounds of the victims — and now it is described as a ” racially motivated attack.”

I contacted both U-T reporters, David Hernandez and Karen Kucher, and asked them why they thought the racial and hate aspects of the story weren’t divulged initially, and both could only speculate that the original story was probably based on a watch commander’s log – which are usually brief.

But not brief enough — Kucher had plenty of other facts and details — just not the racial makeup of the victims. But how would she have known otherwise – a reporter in this situation isn’t going down to Newport Ave and try to find witnesses — but is forced to rely on police reports to base their article on.

In trying to dig further, the Rag sent out three emails, one to the DA’s office, one to the Police Department media office, and the third to Community Relations Officer David Surwilo. The emails had this inquiry:

When the story came out about the Hells Angels indictments for the crime in Ocean Beach, the racial aspect of the charges came as a surprise to many people. Can you tell me why there was no mention of this when it happened back in June of this year? It does not appear that the SDPD reported this

The DA’s office and Surwillo answered within one hour.

The DA: “Thank you for reaching out. I do not know if San Diego Police put out a news release about this incident at the time. Try checking in with Adam Sharki over at SDPD. He would know.”

Sharki is in the SDPD media department and was already emailed. As of this writing, there hasn’t been a response yet.

Surwilo responded: “I have not been involved in the investigation, but reading the news articles online from other press outlets pertaining to the city press conference states racial comments were made during the original incident. If that occurred then the incident might have qualified as a hate crime, being racially motivated.”

So, we’re still left with the nagging question – why was the truth of this attack not made public for 3 and a half months after the incident?

Was it simply an oversight? Or did the police fear more violence by friends of the victims? Or protests by BLM supporters? Or were police already building a large case against the Hells Angels and this tipped the balance and they were able then to take it to the Grand Jury for the indictments?

Take a step back for a moment. A mob attacked 3 Black men, almost killing one. It’s a racist attack, it’s a hate crime. Nearly a murder. It is the most violent and largest hate crime in the City of San Diego that was committed in a public place in living memory.

There are onlookers – all of whom are too intimidated or fearful to intervene. (But they do hand over their cellphone vids and give eye-witness accounts.)

In any other situation like this in most other major cities in the US, I cannot imagine that the racial makeup of the victims and nature of the attack would be withheld by the authorities.

Take almost any other racist attack in this country in post-BLM times that had been captured by body-cams or witness phones – and then the public is told police cannot divulge the race of the victims or perpetrators and withhold that it’s a hate-crime — for over 3 months?

Obviously, one might add, police didn’t know all the details the night of the attack and maybe not for a few days later – or weeks. But still no official pronouncement even then was made as to its true nature.

A readiness hearing is set for the defendants on Nov. 3.

Geoff Page was a contributor to this post.