On the evening of December 18, Ja’Ronn Alex, a KKCO reporter was attacked by a man named Patrick Egan, directly outside of the news station. Thankfully, some of Alex’s coworkers inside the building saw and were able to stop the attack.
When interviewed by The Tiger, Alex shared that a man in a Sunshine Rides vehicle (Patrick Egan) was following him on his way back to work. Egan began yelling racist remarks such as, “‘This is Trump’s America now!’ and ‘I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you’ and ‘Are you even a U.S. citizen?’”
When Alex returned to the news station, Egan approached him, demanding to see Alex’s proof of being a US citizen. He then began strangling Alex. When Alex’s co-workers rescued him, they held Egan on the ground until the police arrived.
Alex shares that he is of Pacific Islander descent and that this attack was racially motivated.
Egan is on trial for “bias-motivated crimes, 2nd-degree assault by strangulation, and harassment by following and ethnic intimidation. Bias-motivated crimes and 2nd-degree assault are both felonies. The harassment charge is a misdemeanor.”
Patrick Egan is currently sitting in jail with a $20,000 bond. While he’s in jail, he is being screened as a potential participant for the fast-track program to treat any mental illness that he may have.
Looking more into his background, Egan had been pursuing help for his mental state for nearly twenty years and hadn’t been able to see much change in himself. This is why he is being reviewed for the program while in jail.
Ellie Wytulka, a junior and a journalist for the Fruita Monument Catalyst newspaper shares her opinion on the attack, saying, “It is so devastating and terrible that the man was attacked for his beliefs and the way he looked. Reporters do have to put themselves in danger going out into the field but it shouldn’t have gone as far as it did.”
We are still waiting to see what else happens in Patrick Egan’s case. He is scheduled for several more court dates in the new year.