NRI Pulse Staff Report
Atlanta, GA, January 10, 2020: A 53-year-old male was charged with attempted murder and hate crimes after he allegedly assaulted a 70-year-old Indian-American woman on New Year’s eve.
Eugene resident James Lamb, a guest the Hub Motel in Redmond, Oregon, broke into the manager’s office and attacked the owner, said a statement issued by the District Attorney. The owner suffered broken bones, remains in the hospital, and is expected to survive.
The grand jury charged Lamb with one count of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of bias crime in the first degree, one count of assault in the second degree, one count of burglary in the second degree, one count of strangulation, one count of menacing, and one count of criminal mischief in the second degree.
The grand jury also charged Lamb with bias crimes based on his statements regarding the victim’s country of origin being India and his expressed desire to rid America of people like her.
Charging the accused of bias charges was possible because of Oregon’s revised “hate crime” law that was passed last year by the Oregon Legislature.
Lamb allegedly acted alone during this unprovoked assault.
Oregon’s revised hate crime law allows a felony hate crime to be charged when a defendant acts alone to harm another because of that person’s race, color, religion, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. Previously, felony charges were only authorized if two or more people harmed another based on these motivations.
“The victim of this unprovoked assault provided heroic testimony to the grand jury from her hospital bed. Too many people in Oregon are silenced by intimidation and violence because of how they look, who they love, or to whom they pray. Because of this woman’s strength, and because the Oregon Legislature passed a law last year to strengthen Oregon’s hate crime law, justice will be delivered in this case. Hate is not tolerated in Deschutes County,” District Attorney Josh Hummel said.
Lamb’s next court hearing is January 10, 2020 at 1:30pm.
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