A U.S. Marine was stabbed in the chest and hit in the head with a tire iron in Twentynine Palms, California, on during a brawl early on Sunday morning, a local radio station reported. Some Internet accounts say that the Marine assaulted in a hate crime attack, but those accounts have not been verified.
A photo also surfaced of a man with a shaved head with blood pouring from his head.
The Inquisitr publication first pointed out that the Marine’s injury might have been the result of tensions following the acquittal of George Zimmerman on Saturday night, as a number of people took to the streets to protest the verdict.
The report came after KCDZ 107.7 said Thursday that police found the injured Marine, who was not named, and he was taken to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs with serious injuries. He was later released. Police are still investigating the incident.
The incident stemmed from a party, with two different groups of men engaging in a fight, according to the radio station report. One of the groups of men was chased down a street by the other group, who had a baseball bat and a tire iron.
The second group assaulted the Marine, and police said several men were arrested. Authorities also recovered a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun.
Melvin Peters, 23; Davon Felton, 20; Christine Brown, 18, were arrested, according to the station.
Local authorities said that neither race or an outside issue has been identified as a factor into the assault.
The Inquisitr quoted a parent as saying that “after being beaten with a tire iron by a mob of 15 plus black men, [he was] stabbed in the chest and kicked unconscious and robbed. This fits the criteria for attempted murder along with a hate crime.”
However, the account has not been verified.
Before It’s News, a website that has a heavy focus on conspiracy theories, posted an account that was sourced from the Saiga-12.com forum.
The account was purportedly written by a parent of the Marine, who is named “Steven” and is a Lance Corporal. He was with another marine and a civilian friend, who is black.
The person who wrote it said Marine and two other men “observed a large group (15-20) African American males walking down the street making a lot of noise, shouting, causing a scene. Many were carryintg [sic] weapons, ie…batons, and at least one tire iron.”
“The mob notices the three men sitting on the porch smoking and talking and proceeded to make they’re way up the drive. At this point Steven, the other Marine and they’re civilian friend told them to leave,” the account states.
It added: “The mob attacked the other Marine first. Steven, seeing his friend being assaulted attempted to intervene. Stevens black friend also stepped in demanding they stop. The mob ignored Stevens black friend and attacked Steven instead. They struck him in the head with a tire iron, punched him repeatedly, kicked him repeatedly and then stabbed him in the right side of his chest. Once they had him on the ground and unconscious they continued to beat him. The other Marine was able to get away while Steven was eventually robbed while he lay helpless and unable to defend himself.”
