A 22-year-old black, Des Moines man was assaulted in a racist attack early Saturday morning. He was on his way to his girlfriend’s house on the city southside. However, the question remains; is nowhere safe for the black man?
Reports say he was attacked by three white males at about 3:25 a.m., who made racist comments as they assaulted him. Police arrived at the scene to discover the victim, DaQuan Jones, lying on the ground. While they were with significant injuries to the left side of his face, eyes and hands, there was no sign of life-threatening injuries. He was then transported to a local hospital.
However, according to police reports, Jones did not know the suspects who had attacked him. “The victim indicated that he thought it was a case of mistaken identity,” said Sgt. Paul Parizek; a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department. “The bottom line for us is that he was hurt bad, and we want to find the people responsible. We need to find them before we can determine a motive.”
A witness in an apartment nearby; Tyia Campbell, 40, said she heard yelling racist slurs while beating him up.”Need to get out of our area, we’re going to get all of you out of here”; Campbell recalled. She then called the police.
