The professor for the East Los Angeles College attacked for a possible hate crime

Montebello (KABC) – A professor on East Los Angeles College, who teaches about the history of racism, was brutally attacked in a possible hate crime.

Aki Mahara believes that he was targeted on April 29 when he drove from college with his e-bike home to Montebello.

“When I turned around, I saw the shape of a four -door limousine and it looked like it was coming to me,” he said to Eyewitness News.

The 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran and long-time professor says that a car hit him and he was thrown to the ground.

He says the suspect shouted at an ethnic sheet for Asians.

“I heard f **** c *** k and I was hit. My bike and I were thrown down.

Mahara, a Japanese American, was admitted to the hospital with a concussion, a broken cheekbone, a deep cut on his arm and blue stains all over the body.

A Gofundme account has been set up to support the restoration.

The incident is now examined by the Montebello Police Department as a hate crime. The investigators could not find a surveillance video of the incident.

“There has never been a decade in my life, in which I did not have become racist,” he said.

Officials say that hate crimes were on the rise, especially against the Asian -American and Pacific island residents.

Maehara, the history of racial beliefs and racism from the colonial to the US story at Elac, says that he has already been targeted because of harassment, but says that this time he believes that someone is lying in the line.

“I wear a helmet with a shield and … a glare visor. So everyone can not say that I am Asians.”

Despite his injuries, Mahara returned to his classroom on Monday to send a clear message.

“It was important that I showed up because they were trying to stop me,” he said.