An Armenian American man Agrees To Plead Guilty In Hate Crime Attack of Turkish Restaurant

An Armenian origin man from California has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for attacking 5 victims at a family-owned Turkish restaurant in Beverly Hills last year, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Wednesday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Early this summer, a federal grand jury indicted two men for allegedly assaulting and threatening victims at a Turkish restaurant last November, while shouting anti-Turkish slurs, hurling chairs and threatening to kill them.

William Stepanyan, 23, has agreed to plead to one count of conspiracy and one hate crime charge, according to a plea agreement filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

"He is expected to enter a guilty plea to the felony charges in the coming weeks," -- U.S. The Attorney's Office confirmed this to TURAN's correspondent.

According to the Justice Department's press release, when a war broke out between Armenian and Azeri military forces in September 2020, tensions in Turkish and Armenian communities escalated worldwide, including in the United States. Numerous protests and counter-protests, pitting individuals of Armenian and Turkish descent against one another, took place in Los Angeles County.

According to his plea agreement, on Nov 4, 2020, Stepanyan sent a text message saying that he planned to go "hunting for [T]urks." Later that day, Stepanyan met with his co-defendant Harutyun Harry Chalikyan, 24, of Tujunga, and other Armenian-Americans to protest what they considered to be Turkish aggression against Armenians, express their contempt for Turkey and show their support for Armenia.

Stepanyan, Chalikyan and other Armenian-Americans then drove to the family-owned restaurant, where Stepanyan and Chalikyan stormed into the restaurant and attacked the victims inside. Stepanyan and Chalikyan, who were both wearing masks during the attack, flung chairs at the victims while shouting derogatory slurs about Turkish people. Four of the five victims were of Turkish descent. At least one of the defendants threatened to kill the victims, shouting: "We came to kill you! We will kill you!"

During the attack, Stepanyan ripped out the restaurant's computer terminals and stole a victim's iPhone. The restaurant suffered at least $20,000 in damage and had to close temporarily, resulting in thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

After he enters the guilty pleas to the two felony offenses, Stepanyan will face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Chalikyan is scheduled to go on trial in this matter on October 26. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and five hate crime charges.

The FBI conducted the investigation in this matter and received substantial assistance from the Beverly Hills Police Department.

A.Raufoglu

Washington D.C.