Three men brand, terrorize developmentally challenged Navajo

Pat McMahon Contributor
Font Size:

Three New Mexico men have been charged with a hate crime, along with kidnapping, conspiracy, and aggravated battery for their role in a vicious attack on a Navajo man. The victim, who is mentally challenged, was lured to the men’s apartment where they proceeded to brutalize him by branding him.

The men burned a swastika into the man’s arm, shaved a swastika into the back of his head, and drew obscene comments and pictures all over his body. “It’s shocking,” detective Sgt. Robert Perez said. “To see the images of this young man and the way he was brutalized, it was definitely shocking. I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

In light of the brutal nature of the crime, the district attorney announced a hate crime enhancement to the charges.