No hate crime charges for Utah man who brutally beat Latino pair while screaming 'I hate Mexicans'

A Utah man who brutally beat a Latino father and son will not face hate crime charges, despite targeting the pair because they were Mexican.

Alan Dale Covington faces four counts of aggravated assault, in addition to weapons and drug charges, but Utah state law won't allow prosecutors to file hate crime charges in the attack, reported the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The 50-year-old Covington threatened to "kill someone" before swinging a 5-foot metal pole at the two men outside their tire shop last week.

Jose Lopez, 51, suffered a forearm laceration in the attack, and his 18-year-old son Luis was struck in the head and hospitalized in serious condition.

The younger man underwent surgery to place a titanium plate to attach his facial bones and keep his eyeball in place.

Witnesses said Covington shouted "I hate Mexicans" and "I'm here to kill a Mexican" during the attack, and asked the pair if they were affiliated with the "Mexican mafia."

But state law allows only misdemeanor assaults to be enhanced with hate crime charges, and Covington was charged with felony assault.

No one has been convicted of a hate crime in the 20 years the statute has been on the books.