Army Vet beaten and robbed by teens who
asked him if 'black lives matter' as he ate in
McDonald's
An Iraq war veteran whose bravery inspired two statues says he
was beaten by a group of teens in Washington, DC on Friday
night after they approached and asked him whether 'black lives
matter'.
Chris Marquez, a decorated US marine, was eating in a
McDonald's when the youths walked up and started questioning
him, WJLA reported.
'I felt threatened and thought they were trying to
intimidate me, so I figured I'm just going to keep to my
food, eat my food and hopefully they'll leave me alone,'
Marquez told the station.
But he says the youths started calling him a racist, and that
when he left they jumped him, beat him up, and robbed him.
'As soon as I walked out of the McDonald’s I got hit in the
back of the head, or the side of the head,' he told WJLA. 'I
just dropped to the ground, and [the McDonald's
manager] says I looked unconscious.'
Marquez was taken to George Washington Hospital with bruises
and cuts to his face, and says that he's had trouble sleeping
since the event, due to a sharp pain that he often feels in his
head.
He also says that the youths took his credit cards
and immediately used them in a number of locations, leaving a
trail that he hopes will help police catch them.
Marquez served eight years on active duty in the marines as a
rifleman and scout sniper from 2003-2011, and was awarded a
Bronze Star for valor after carrying his commander's body out
of combat, according to The Daily Caller.
But he was best known for a photograph showing him and a
fellow marine carrying a wounded sergeant out of a house in
Fallujah, after a firefight that became known as 'Hell House.'
That photograph in turn inspired two statues named No Man Left
Behind, which are currently on display at Camp Pendleton in San
Diego and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Police told The NY Daily News today that they were reviewing the
McDonald's location's surveillance footage, but had yet to make
any arrests.
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