By ,
Published January 02, 2017
Two brothers from Boston’s South End beat up a homeless man and yelled: “Donald Trump was right – all these illegals need to be deported,” police said.
The 58-year-old Hispanic homeless man was asleep outside the MBTA train station when the men attacked him, according to the Massachusetts State Police.
Scott Leader, 38, and his younger brother Steve, 30, were allegedly heading home after a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park when they encountered the sleeping man, according to the Boston Globe.
He told police that he woke up to find the two men urinating on his face. They took his blankets and sleeping bag.
“Next thing … he was getting hit in the face and head,” said the State Police report on the incident, according to the Globe. “He remembers being punched several times and hit with [a] metal pole.”
A witness told police that the two brothers walked away laughing, but they were picked up shortly afterward by state troopers who were flagged down by eyewitnesses.
The homeless man was taken to Boston Medical Center where he was treated for a broken nose and a number of bruises and injuries to his head and torso.
According to the troopers, the brothers were combative once taken into custody, urinating on cell doors, destroying property and threatening people.
Asked why they attacked the homeless man, Scott Leader told an officer that he was inspired by Trump.
Since June, when the real estate mogul and television personality launched his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, he has been calling for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, the construction of a border wall and other hard-line immigration measures.
News of the alleged assault drew strong condemnation on Wednesday around the region, from Boston’s Mayor Martin Walsh to immigration activists.
Asked about the incident before a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday night, Trump said "that would be a shame … I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country, and they want this country to be great again.”
The brothers pleaded not guilty to multiple assault charges, indecent exposure and making threats in Dorchester District Court on Wednesday.
It would not be the first time one of the brothers targeted someone because of their ethnicity.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Leader was convicted of a hate crime after he threw a cup at a Moroccan man working at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Boston, yelled ethnic slurs and called him a terrorist.
He served one year in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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