California couple affiliated with Nazi skinheads killed Black veteran at gas station: police

On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that prosecutors are pursuing hate crime charges in the killing of Justin Peoples, a Black married father and Navy veteran, who was allegedly shot and stabbed by a white couple with apparent affinity for neo-Nazi groups at a gas station outside Stockton.

"In the early stages of the investigation, Tracy police determined that Peoples did nothing to provoke the attack that left him dead, and described it as a 'senseless act of violence,'" reported Anna Venarchik. "The morning after the killing, police arrested Christina Garner, 42, of Manteca, and Jeremy Jones, 49, of Stockton. Then last Friday, investigators alleged a motive: alongside a murder charge, the white couple was charged with a hate crime for killing the young Black father."

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"Garner’s and Jones’ social media accounts show they have an affinity for tattoos. Just days before their arrest, Jones debuted a new ink collar that reached from his collarbone up his throat. 'I wanted to show my girlfriend that I loved her,' he says as he turns his head, revealing the massive letters that spell 'CHRISTINA' across his neck," said the report. "But it’s precisely because of the couple’s ink that investigators say they were able to gather enough evidence that the alleged murder was a hate crime ... In a statement released two days after the couple’s arrest, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar released mugshots as well as photos of Jones’ other tattoos. 'WHITE' and 'PRIDE' span the length of his arms and the outline of a skeleton can be seen hovering over a swastika. Salazar also said that after investigating Jones, they discovered he had shown support in the past for white supremacist entities like Skinheads, the Aryan Brotherhood, and Nazis."

Salazar has vowed to prosecute the killing to the fullest extent of the law, saying in a statement that "There is no place for hate in our community. No one should be victimized because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion."

Hate crimes across the country spiked in recent years. Another common type of incident has been attacks on Asian-Americans as supposed revenge for COVID-19, which was first identified in China.

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