On April 26, actor Sameer Khan shared a fake report on his Twitter handle that accused two Hindu brothers of committing hate crime against a black man.
Sameer, a religious zealot and a washed-up actor by all accounts was quoting a Twitter handle, sooraj_sb00, which shared a video of a black man beating two men with sticks. The tweet read, “Two Hindu extremists in America attacked a Black man with weapons. Luckily the victim was easily able to disarm them and defend himself. Both Hindu extremists were arrested. The police are investigating it as a hate crime.”
Two hindu extremists in America attacked a Black man with weapons. Luckily the victim was easily able to disarm them and defend himself. Both hindu extremists were arrested. The police are investigating it as a hate crime pic.twitter.com/FotyXJdeGc
— Bob Vageneakar 🇮🇳🇨🇦 (@sooraj_sb00) April 26, 2023
Quoting the tweet, Sameer said, “Two Mob lynchers with sticks couldn’t stand one black man outside India.” However, his “happiness” did not last long. Twitter user Befitting Facts dug out the actual report on the video in question.
Two Mob lynchers with sticks couldn’t stand one black man outside India. https://t.co/FKZBqZlxOI
— Sam (@SamKhan999) April 26, 2023
It was revealed that the incident was from 2015, and it was not a hate crime, as the tweets presented. Befitting Facts said, “This is not any hate crime. Those two brothers were trying to protect their shop from robbery. And the accused, Domnick Smith, was arrested and charged by the court. That happened eight years ago.”
This is not any hate crime. Those two brothers were trying to protect their shop from robbery. and the accused Domnick Smith was arrested and charged by court. That happened 8 years ago.@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/jH9MHwtlgu
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) April 26, 2023
OpIndia accessed the original report shared in 2015 by WISN 12 News. The report mentioned that the two gas station clerks charged another person with baseball bats who was trying to steal from their store.
The truth about the incident
The incident took place at 4950 W Lisbon on February 21, 2015. Interestingly, right across the street, there was a police station.
Reports suggested that the argument between the clerks and the accused started after they accused the latter of shoplifting. The eyewitnesses said the accused was taunting them and tried to reenter the store. The accused got hold of one of the bats and attacked the clerks with it. One of them got unconscious due to the injuries. The accused then escaped but was later captured by the police the next day.
The accused was identified as 21-year-old Dominick Smith. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison and 24 months of extended supervision on each of the charges. In total, he was sentenced to spend 36 months in prison and 48 months of extended supervision. Furthermore, he was ordered to pay USD 14,000 in restitution and over USD 3,000 to the Crime Victim Compensation Program.
Smith’s public defender initially claimed during the hearing that his client suffered from mental illness, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ADHD. A medical examination was ordered by the court, and the case was put on hold. However, after the medical report came back from the doctor’s office, Smith told the court he was competent to contest the case. At that time, he was out on USD 10,000 cash bail.
