(JTA) — A Minnesota psychiatric patient who describes himself as “super racist with a kind heart” was charged with a hate crime for allegedly punching a kippah-wearing Jewish hospital employee in the face.
John David Korngable, 55, was charged Thursday in Ramsey County District Court with gross misdemeanor assault motivated by bias, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.
Korngable is accused of assaulting an employee in the psychiatric ward of Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 25. The victim, whose name was not published, was in a hospital waiting area when Korngable attacked him “suddenly and without warning,” according to the criminal complaint.
When police questioned him, Korngable said he punched the man “because he’s a competing race and wants to torture us,” the complaint said.
“The defendant stated he did not have a problem with [the victim] specifically, just his race. He also described himself as a ‘super racist with a kind heart.’ When asked if he had anything else to add, the defendant said he wanted to get himself a ‘non-Jew lawyer,’” the complaint stated, according to the Pioneer.
A substance abuser who is also mentally ill, Korngable is a committed (required to stay against his will) patient in the hospital.
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