Marine Vet Says Group of Teens Harassed Him While He Was Eating — He Woke Up a Short Time Later and Pieced Things Together

A former Marine was enjoying his burger at a McDonald’s Friday evening when a crowd of teens approached him and demanded he respond to the question, “Do you believe black lives matter?” Shortly after this, the youths allegedly knocked the man unconscious and robbed him.

Christopher Marquez received the Bronze Star for valor after serving in the Iraq war.

Marquez said he was grabbing a bite at a McDonald’s in northwest Washington, D.C., when the group came up to him and started harassing him about the Black Lives Matter movement, the Daily Caller reported.

“Do you believe black lives matter?” they asked him repeatedly. When Marquez ignored them, they began shouting that he was a racist.

After finishing his food, Marquez left the restaurant. As he was walking out to the parking lot, he allegedly sustained a blow to the back of his head, which knocked him unconscious.

The vet awoke to find his pants ripped and his wallet, which contained $400, three credit cards, his VA medical card, school identification, metro card and driver’s license, missing.

“I remember this group of teens harassing me while I was eating, they surrounded my table and kept on asking me ‘Do you believe black lives matter?'” Marquez told the Daily Caller. “Then they started calling me a racist. I can’t recall if they were saying anything else to me at this moment because the blow to my head really screwed up my memory.”

DeAnthony Mason, manager of the restaurant, examined security footage and told Marquez in a phone call Saturday that he was struck on the side of the head by a teen wearing a white shirt.

The rest of the group then surrounded Marquez and robbed him. After Marquez had a chance to recover from his incapacitated state, Marquez called a cab driver to drive him back to his apartment across from American University, where he is currently a student.

Workers at the university called the police, who transported Marquez to George Washington Hospital, where he underwent a thorough medical evaluation. Medical documents obtained by the Daily Caller show Marquez received treatment for head trauma and an eye contusion.

According to the Daily Caller, transactions made on Marquez’s stolen credit cards reveal that his attackers charged more than $115 at a liquor store, Five Guys and Walmart. Mason told Marquez that police had already been looking for the group of teens for a prior incident. On Saturday, Mason helped Marquez piece together the events leading up to the head blow.

“I believe this was a hate crime, and I was targeted because of my skin color,” Marquez told the Daily Caller. “Too many of these types of attacks have been happening against white people by members of the black community and the majority of the mainstream media refuses to report on it.”

This Iraq War memorial located at Camp Pendleton, California, is based on a photo of Sgt. Maj Brad Kasal being carried to safety by Chris Marquez, left, and Dane Shaffer, right, in Fallujah. (Hope for the Warriors)

Marquez served active duty between 2003 and 2011 as a rifleman and scout sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marine received the Bronze Star for valor during his first deployment after he carried the body of his fallen team leader from combat following an ambush during the Battle of Fallujah.

And just to clear the record, Marquez told the Daily Caller that he is in no way a racist.

“When I was in the Marine Corps, I served with people from many different backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and races,” Marquez told the Daily Caller. “Like all Marines, I fought for the freedom of all Americans and not just one particular group.”

Marquez was involved in the infamous “Hell House” fire fight in Fallujah. He and his fellow Marine, Dane Shaffer, rescued four other Marines who were stuck in a house after an insurgent ambush. According to the L.A. Times, a picture taken of the two pulling Sgt Maj Brad Kasal out of combat inspired a famous war memorial of Iraq located in California.

Officer Anthony Hector of the Metropolitan Police Department told the Daily Caller that he is currently investigating the reported assault. No further details could be provided as of Tuesday. Marquez described his attackers as a group of about five black youths, including one female, ages 16 to 21.

Marquez told the Daily Caller, “I really think this group of teens is dangerous and will do this type of thing again if they are not caught.”

(H/T: Daily Caller)