Hate crime? 89-year-old white Navy vet stabbed to death by black man in an unprovoked attack at a 99 cent store

HANFORD, CA - According to authorities, an 82-year-old man was stabbed to death in a "random" and "unprovoked" attack while shopping for a birthday card at a local store. 

The victim was a white male and was a 23-year Navy veteran. The suspect is a black 23-year-old, identified as Ryan Washington. He was arrested on scene and booked into Kings County Jail.

Hanford Chief of Police Parker Sever said in a statement, "It is just a shocking incident. When your loved one goes out to the store, you expect them to return and that wasn't the case in this incident.

"You can't be hyper-sensitive to every single thing around you and we saw no signs that this individual showed abnormal behavior beforehand that something like this was going to happen."

Prior to this violent incident, Washington's criminal record included one theft. Sever said, "The victim, William, was doing nothing other than shopping at the store and as he was walking down the aisle, he was followed behind by the suspect and was subsequently attacked for no apparent reason."

Authorities stated that the victim and Washington did not know each other and that they had never interacted before the incident. Washington is reportedly being examined for mental health issues.

A quick Google search of this horrific incident showcases the lack of mainstream media coverage. According to a report from Revolver News, not only are the media "scarcely covering" the story, but they have also "notably refrained from labeling it a 'hate crime.'"

This violent, deadly incident is one of several where the victim is white and the suspect is black. Law Enforcement Today reported on the retired police chief who was killed while riding his bicycle. Video from the suspects' cell phone, which circulated social media, shows the two purposely and maliciously attacking the victim. 

An article from June 2023 highlights "black-on-white crimes" since May 2023 and how those numbers are climbing across the country.

According to that article, "Forty-three victims reported in May, give or take two Vietnamese-Americans, one Lebanese-American, and some 'white Hispanics.'" As usually, a truly remarkable number were white women (and in one case a brother) killed by their black significant others."

The article included photos of the victims as well as photos of the suspects and/or alleged suspects:

"We have one case of a white man killed by a black woman. Robbery, road rage and home invasion also figure. And there was a remarkable case of a young black man apparently vigilante-killing homeless white drug users in Arizona, to absolutely no national media attention at all."

The 89-year-old Navy vet, William Chartrand, who was a victim of a senseless crime, deserves to be in the mainstream media; his life mattered. Martin Devine, William's stepson, said in a statement:

"Not Bill. He's such a good guy. Why would anyone want to hurt him? He never met a stranger, always friendly with everyone. He would walk up to complete strangers and give them compliments. Strong Christian, strong values, loved his country and always put my mother first."