Bryan Blancas, 19, pleaded no contest on Monday to the assault on the 16-year-old boy that occurred in Long Beach, California earlier this year
A teenager has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a brutal hate crime attack on a black special needs student that was caught on camera in the middle of a California street.
Bryan Blancas, 19, pleaded no contest on Monday to the assault on the 16-year-old boy that occurred in Long Beach earlier this year.
The teen also admitted to allegations that the attack was a hate crime and gang-affiliated, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He was immediately sentenced to eight years in state prison following his plea.
Blancas and two other teenagers, aged 16 and 17 at the time, were arrested six days after the May 15 attack in Long Beach. Another 16-year-old was also taken into custody a month later.
Footage of the horror attack, which lasted about three minutes, showed Blancas and his friends confronting the teen victim near his Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders school.
When the victim tried to flee, Blancas knocked him to the ground and punched and kicked him multiple times in the head, face and torso.
Footage of the horror attack, which lasted about three minutes, showed Blancas and his friends confronting the teen victim near his Poly Academy of Achievers and Leaders school
When the victim tried to flee, Blancas knocked him to the ground and punched and kicked him multiple times in the head, face and torso
The videos circulated widely on social media after the attack.
The victim’s mother, Rasheena McCord, told the Long Beach Post at the time that the group who targeted her son were Latino and some were even fellow students at Poly Academy.
‘He tried to run, but they caught up to him,’ McCord said.
She said her son was targeted because of the color of his skin.
McCord claimed that similar attacks had occurred on black students just days earlier.
She said her son, was left with bruises on his head, a torn eardrum and multiple scrapes from the attack.
McCord claimed one of the boys who attacked her son was wearing brass knuckle at the time.
She and other parents staged protests outside the Poly Academy following the race-related attacks on several black students over several weeks.
The victim’s mother said her son, who she described as having special needs, was left with bruises on his head, a torn eardrum and multiple scrapes from the attack