Another disturbing case of Iranphobia/Islamphobia has been confirmed. This time in Lake Forest, a town located in Southern Orange County with a sizable Iranian American population.
According to OC Weekly, a Lake Forest man accused of having white power tattoos could get up to six years in state prison after allegedly threatening to kill Persian patrons of the BluFig Hookah Lounge.
Andrew Alan Carruthers, 29, was charged Tuesday with felony criminal threats, misdemeanor resisting arrest, obstructing an officer and violating civil rights as well as a sentencing enhancement for hate crime, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office, which adds six years in prison is the maximum sentence for a conviction on those counts.
Carruthers is accused of walking into BluFig Hookah Lounge around 9 p.m. Friday “and acting aggressively toward the patrons, who were mainly of Persian descent,” the Orange County District Attorney’s office states in an arraignment advisory.
An BlueFig employeee asked Carruthers to leave, but he allegedly reentered multiple times and threatened to kill people in the lounge, prosecutors claim.
“The defendant is accused of having visible tattoos of symbols associated with white supremacy,” the OCDA advisory states.
Carruthers Facebook posts scream of white supremacy, Islamphobia and support for President Trump. His Facebook page includes himself wearing a “Fuck Isis” t-shirt, images of a poster in a ball cap with the logo “Whiteboy,” a shirtless pic with a tattoo across his chest that reads “Hate Boy” and an image of Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Photos from Drew Carruther’s Facebook page:
