Authorities in Irvine are describing an attack by an Asian man against a black teenager and his older brother as a completely unprovoked hate crime.

“The two victims are really nice, good people. They didn’t know the suspect. They didn’t provoke the suspect,” Irvine police spokeswoman Farrah Emami said. “They were innocent victims in this case. They didn’t do anything wrong.”

The suspect was arrested Wednesday in connection with what police say is a racially motivated attack with a metal pipe on a 16-year-old student and his older sibling outside Irvine High School, police said.

Christopher Qu, 24, did not know the African American teen, who was on campus for sports practice during spring break, Emami said.


Qu of Irvine was taken into custody on suspicion of committing a hate crime, felony assault and assault with a deadly weapon.

The student was waiting in front of the school for his older brother to pick him up about 12:50 p.m. when Qu aggressively walked up to the boy and began using racial slurs, police said. He was carrying a metal pipe.

The student’s 24-year-old brother drove up to the school, got out of his car and tried to intervene, police said. But Qu head-butted the teen’s brother and struck him with the pipe, Emami said.

The siblings were able to escape and got into their vehicle to call police. The teen was not injured, but his older brother suffered cuts and bruises to his face and arms, police said.


Qu fled before police arrived, but they later found him in the area and arrested him.

The bloodied pipe was found in the school’s parking lot.

Qu had been released from jail days before the attack, according to court records.

In 2013, he was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of making criminal threats. In April that year, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, and the felony count was dismissed. He was sentenced to 84 days in jail and three years of probation.


Records show he was sentenced in February to an additional 60 days in jail for violating his probation.

Qu was released March 22, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Department records.

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