A US man accused of stabbing a Black man while he waited for a job interview has this week pleaded guilty to the racist attack.
Nolan Levi Strauss, 27, is charged with a hate crime involving an attempt to kill after the attack in an Oregon fast food restaurant in 2019.
Court documents say the victim walked into the fast-food restaurant where he planned to provide his CV for a job application, according to Oregon's US Attorney's Office.
While he sat at a booth awaiting his meeting with the restaurant manager, Strauss entered the building and walked up to him from behind.
Strauss then stabbed the victim twice in the neck, the attorney's office said. A restaurant worker was then able to restrain Strauss with a belt while they waited for police to arrive.
"While they waited, the worker asked Strauss why he stabbed the man. Strauss replied, 'Because he was Black, and I don’t like Black people,'" the attorney's office said in a statement earlier this week.
"Strauss was arrested at the scene. He later admitted he was trying to kill the man because he was Black.
"As a result of Strauss's attack, the stabbing victim suffered two lacerations to his neck. He was evaluated in Ontario and subsequently life-flighted to a hospital in Boise, Idaho for emergency surgery."
US Justice Department Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke said Strauss was being held accountable for his actions.
"Racially motivated acts of violence must not be tolerated in our country today. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to ensure that individuals who commit bias-motivated crimes are brought to justice for their actions."
Strauss will be sentenced in September.
