Officials stated this week that a Utah man was sentenced to 20 years for his bias-motivated attack on three men at a family-owned business.
On Feb. 19, 2020, after a five-day trial, a jury in Salt Lake City convicted Alan Covington for attacking three men with a metal pole because he believed the men were Mexican.
According to evidence presented at trial, on November 27, 2018, Covington entered a family-owned tire shop, Lopez Tires, armed with a metal pole and hatchet.
Upon entering the shop, the defendant demanded to know if the men were Mexican.
According to testimony at trial, the defendant shouted that he wanted to “Kill Mexicans” and then began swinging the metal pole at the business owner, his brother, and teenage son.
His public defender, Emily Stirba, said Covington suffers from delusions and was after the Mexican mafia, which he believes killed his daughter, according to ABC News 4 in Salt Lake City.
“Mr. Covington doesn’t have a problem with Mexicans,” she told the court. “He was after the cartel. And no one likes the Mexican cartel. The United States doesn’t like the Mexican cartel.”
Covington hit the teenage son with the metal pole, taking him to the ground and causing serious physical injury to his face.
Covington continued his attack striking the father multiple times in the back.
He eventually turned his attack on the business owner’s brother, who escaped without injury and reported the matter to police.
Covington was apprehended by police near the tire shop with a metal pole and a hatchet in his possession.
“This defendant brutally assaulted a family and attempted to kill a young man because he believed they were Mexican,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Such bias-motivated violence is fundamentally at odds with our most deeply held values.”
“This was a horrific act of hate-motivated violence and there is no place for it in our state or country,” said U.S Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “These victims are part of our community, and no one should ever have to fear for their safety because of their race or nationality. With Covington now behind bars, we hope the victims and their families can find peace and heal from this unspeakable act of hate.”
“We hope the sentencing provides some measure of justice for the victims, whose lives will never be the same because of Mr. Covington’s heinous actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha of the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office. “Our country is rich in diversity and violence motivated by hate – like all violence – has no place here. The FBI will vigorously defend the civil rights of all in the communities we serve.”
The FBI Salt Lake City Field Office investigated the case with the cooperation of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Drew Yeates for the District of Utah and Deputy Chief Rose Gibson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.