Jason DeSimas, Hate Crime, Washington 2018

GRAVE THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY: Jason DeSimas, 47, of Tacoma, Washington, pleaded guilty to hate crime and false statement charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

On December 8, 2018, DeSimas assaulted T.S., a Black man, at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington, because of his race. The assault was a hate crime, a serious offense that targets individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics.

According to the plea agreement, DeSimas admitted that he was a prospective member of a white supremacist group at the time of the assault. He and others, including members of the group and its support group, entered the bar and attacked T.S., who was serving as the disc jockey. DeSimas called T.S. a racial slur and punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor.

Two bystanders attempted to intervene to help T.S. and stop the assault, but were assaulted by members of the group and sustained injuries. DeSimas made false statements to FBI agents about the circumstances surrounding the assault, claiming that neither he nor anyone else called T.S. a racial slur during the assault. This statement was false, and DeSimas made it to cover up the motive for the assault, which was the bias that he and others had against T.S.’s race.

DeSimas will be sentence on July 8 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the hate crime charge and up to 5 years in prison for the false statement charge.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with the support of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Cohen for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case.

DeSimas was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on December 18, 2020. The indictment also charged three other men with aiding and abetting one another in the assault, as well as with making false statements to the FBI during the investigation. One of these men, Daniel Dorson, previously pleaded guilty in this matter.

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