Attorney for teen charged with attacking veteran says victim initiated confrontation
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Version 0 of 1. A Marine war veteran who was attacked and robbed outside a McDonald’s restaurant earlier this month verbally provoked the two alleged teenage assailants, one of the attorneys for the teens said Friday. Derrick R. Page, an attorney for a 17-year-old female who was charged, said the victim, Christopher A. Marquez, was intoxicated at the time of the confrontation. He said the incident began when Marquez called one of the youths a racial epithet and called his client a b----. “When you walk up to a group of teens and call them a n----- and a b----, for no reason, you can’t be sure as to what the outcome is then going to be,” Page said. Marquez denied making such statements and said he was not intoxicated. The Feb. 12 incident gained widespread media attention after Marquez said a group of teens confronted him in the restaurant near Gallery Place and, without provocation, asked him whether he felt black lives matter. Marquez said they called him a racist and, after he ignored their question, assaulted him. Page’s account of the events leading up to the attack came after a hearing Friday in D.C. Superior Court for the two charged youths. A 17-year-old male was charged with aggravated assault in the case and the female was charged with robbery. Their names were not made public because they were charged as juveniles. A third person is being sought in the case A trial before Judge Peter A. Krauthamer was set for April 7. [Watch a video of the physical attack] In an interview Friday, Marquez denied making such comments toward the teens. “I didn’t say those things — absolutely not,” Marquez said. “That is completely false. Lies.” Marquez said he had one or two glasses of wine that evening and stopped at the fast-food restaurant, in the 900 block of E Street NW, after a book reading. He said that although he does not recall being hit on the back of the head as he left the McDonald’s, he does remember what happened before. A police report describes an argument between Marquez and at least one of the attackers. Surveillance video made public by D.C. police shows that a person struck Marquez on the back of the head as he walked out of the restaurant. He fell facedown on the sidewalk, after which a person straddled him and rummaged through his pockets. Police said his wallet, credit cards, student ID and $400 in cash was taken. The video shows that a person kicked Marquez before the assailants ran. Marquez is a student at American University who served eight years in the Marines and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. A GoFundMe account has been established for Marquez, and it raised nearly $44,000 as of Friday from more than a 1,000 donors. “This alleged victim is out there garnering sympathy when, in actuality, he attacked these teens,” Page said. The Washington Post was allowed to attend Friday’s hearing on the condition that the teens were not identified. |