FBI says Texas stabbing that targeted Asian-American family was hate crime fueled by coronavirus fears

An incident in Midland earlier this month in which a man stabbed several members of an Asian-American family, apparently because of fears about the coronavirus, has been listed as a hate crime.

The incident, which took place March 14 at a Sam’s Club and involved two children ages 2 and 6, was among a swell of hate crimes against Asian-Americans across the country noted in an FBI report recently obtained by ABC News.

The suspect indicated he attacked the family “because he thought the family was Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus,” the network quoted the intelligence report as saying.

Jose L. Gomez III, 19, was charged with three counts of attempted capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the Midland Reporter-Telegram said.

According to the analysis ABC obtained, the FBI thinks such crimes probably “will surge across the United States” as the contagion spreads, “endangering Asian-American communities. … A portion of the U.S. public will associate COVID-19 with China and Asian-American populations.”

President Donald Trump and others have referred to the coronavirus as “the China virus,” drawing ire from critics who say the term is dangerous for the animosity it could foment.

“It did come from China,” the president said last week at a White House briefing. “It is a very accurate term.”

The report was assembled by the FBI’s Houston office and distributed nationwide, ABC said.