Arraignment continued for suspect in Tower District's 'Porchfest' attack

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The antheral accused of attacking 3 Palestine supporters during a Tower District lawsuit made his archetypal tribunal quality connected Friday arsenic protesters made a connection extracurricular the courthouse.

A radical of protestors gathered extracurricular of the courthouse, waving Pride flags, Palestinian flags, and posters with anti-hate messages.

"Just a radical of Fresnans conscionable coming retired to say, 'Hey, we don't similar racism successful our town. We don't basal for hatred crimes. It's not tolerated here.' We we rise our children here. We rise our children here, we got to punctual them however to beryllium mindful and respectful of others and to beryllium tolerant and accepting," said Lethal Garcia, 1 of the protestors.

Inside the courthouse, 49-year-old Francisco Samaniego was acceptable to beryllium arraigned connected charges from an incidental astatine the PorchFest lawsuit successful the Tower District connected April 27th but that proceeding was continued.

Samaniego is accused of attacking 3 women implicit their enactment of Palestine.

Part of the altercation was caught connected camera arsenic punches were thrown, and a compartment telephone was taken.

Initially, Fresno Police arrested Samaniego connected a felony robbery complaint and misdemeanors for vandalism, battery, and hatred crime.

Days later, Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama held a property league addressing the incident.

"There was a batch of profane connection utilized that truly focused connected their perceived spot of commencement and who they were supporting. Therefore, this incidental was classified arsenic a hatred crime," said Balderrama.

However, the Fresno County District Attorney's Office decided *not* to prosecute hatred transgression charges.

In a statement, the DA's bureau said it could not beryllium Samaniego committed a hatred transgression since astir of his comments were directed astatine Hamas.

"The derogatory statements that were allegedly made by Samaniego referring to Palestine and Palestinian people, portion despicable, are protected by the 1st Amendment of the Constitution," the DA's bureau wrote successful the statement.

Attorney and ineligible expert Ralph Torres said helium understands arguments for and against including a hatred transgression charge.

"The contented ever is, 'Can we beryllium this lawsuit beyond a tenable uncertainty and should we complaint it?'' Their determination present based upon what they saw, the applicable evidence, what the radical said to instrumentality enforcement, this is not the benignant of lawsuit that they privation to contiguous beyond a tenable doubt," Torres explained.

Councilmember Annalisa Perea, whose territory includes the Tower District, released a connection expressing her disappointment successful the charges, which work successful part:

"This determination is simply a missed accidental to nonstop a beardown connection to our assemblage that racism and hatred volition not beryllium tolerated successful our city."

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