A 37-year-old man who was punched in the face in downtown Vancouver last week believes he was the victim of a racially motivated attack.
Surrey resident Dino Demir was on the Starbucks patio at Davie and Denman streets Thursday afternoon when he noticed two men gesturing at him. One of them was drinking beer.
Demir, who moved to Canada from Turkey 11 years ago, was speaking on the phone with a friend from overseas. He said the onlookers seemed upset by the fact that he was speaking Turkish.
“He said something about my language… ‘You’re talking a foreign language and you came into this country, go back to your f’ing country,’” Demir told CTV News.
Demir responded by telling the men they shouldn’t be drinking alcohol in public. An argument ensued, and Demir was punched twice in the face.
He suffered a swollen jaw and a broken nose, but said the damage to his spirit hurts the most.
“They hated me. His spit was coming out of him. He was swearing,” Demir said.
“I feel very much I was targeted because I was using Turkish.”
The Vancouver Police Department confirmed one suspect, a 54-year-old Vancouver resident, was arrested. Investigators have since recommended a charge of assault, but it has yet to be approved by the Crown.
Police are also looking into the attack to determine if it was racially motivated, which would be an aggravating factor in sentencing if the case is successfully tried.
Demir said the incident was his first encounter with racism in Vancouver, and he hopes it will be his last.
“I am a citizen,” he added. “I’m a taxpayer. I’m a proud Canadian.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Jonathan Glasgow
