“Three men are accused of branding a swastika on a mentally challenged man’s arm with a heated metal clothes hanger, and could face hate crime charges. “We’ll explore every conceivable available avenue in charging them with a hate crime because what happened to the victim was so horribly wrong,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Sarah Weaver. Jesse Sanford, 24, William Hatch, 28, and Paul Beebe, 26, were charged Friday with kidnapping, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and other felony charges. The three white men are accused of forcing the 22-year-old victim from the Navajo Indian reservation into a car on April 29, and driving him to an apartment. Besides branding the man’s arm there, police say the suspects shaved a swastika into his hair and drew degrading words and pictures on his body with marker. Afterward, according to the Farmington Daily Times, the trio allegedly kicked the victim out of the apartment, and a nearby convenience store clerk called police. Hospital employees washed off the degrading speech and pictures. A local barbershop cut the man’s hair to remove the swastika, police Sgt. Robert Perez said.” – CBS
