State Rep. Maryam Khan’s assault last June prompted her and her colleagues to introduce legislation that would make it easier for police to charge someone with a hate crime, and also make it easier for a samaritan to step in without fear of prosecution.
At a press conference Thursday, Khan said that while Connecticut has a hate crime statute a prosecutor must prove intent.
“The changes that I’ve proposed deal with the intent standard,” Khan said. “There are ways with the current statute in terms of the intent standards it’s almost impossible to say that or prove intent.”
Khan, a Democrat representing Windsor, was leaving a service to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday when she was attacked.
Jason Spencer, 43, of Coventry, an honorably discharged former U.S. Army sergeant, came to Khan’s aid outside the XL Center in June and reportedly fought off the alleged attacker, Andrey Desmond, and then pursued him and detained him until police arrived. He was later arrested and charged with assault. Last month, Khan accompanied him to court where he requested a diversionary program.
However, she said it’s not just because of Spencer, but after the incident several bystanders told her they were too scared to intervene.
“We wish we could have done more, but we were scared that we’d be charged,” Khan said was a common refrain.
She said the law should protect victims, but it should also empower people to step up.
She said there’s also a piece of legislation that will address when police body cameras can and can’t be muted. She said her experience caused her to be left in the dark because the body cameras were muted for most of it.
Not all of the bills have bill numbers yet, but Khan said they will be raised by the Judiciary Committee.
