Monroe man speaks out about being a hate crime victim

Perez Martinez left Mexico for the states 12 years ago for work. Now, he calls Monroe home. When you think of home, you think safe, but that's not how Martinez felt back in February.

(translated) "There are people out there who think we're bad because of the color of our skin. They think we're bad because we're Mexicans," Martinez said.

He said he was walking down South Grand St. when two men approached him, then threw him on the ground and put a knife to his neck.

A police report says one man yelled a racial slur and dug through his pockets.

(translated) "Sad because I work to get my money and they just took it," Martinez said.

Reports show hate crimes across the state are rising. The FBI's latest data shows more than 50% of these crimes are racially motivated and 21% religious.

Congressman Ralph Abraham (R-Alto) spoke out.

"We certainly want to dial down rhetoric we want to dial down evil and dial down the homegrown terrorism. It's going to be a difficult task. But, this is America. We're better than that, and we can get this fixed," Abraham said.

Martinez said he sees and hears how minorities have been recently portrayed. He said the key to end all of this is simple.

"Don't judge ... they need to see the good that we do for the country and not just the bad things. They need to see the good Mexican," Martinez said.

The Department of Justice has now launched a new hate crime website where you can report any hate crimes.

It's https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.