LOS ANGELES (CN) — A Las Vegas man has been charged by a grand jury with 98 federal hate crimes and other felonies stemming from a 2022 attack at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Southern California that left one churchgoer dead and five wounded.
David Chou, 69, faces 45 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by use of force, 45 counts of attacking the congregants because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith, and eight further explosives and firearm charges, according to an indictment announced Thursday by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.
The federal charges come on top of murder and attempted murder charges, as well as hate crime enhancements, brought by the Orange County district attorney against Chou last year. The federal hate crimes, however, pertain to all the attendees of the church service, not just the people Chou killed or wounded.
Chou has been in jail since he was arrested almost a year ago at the church, after the attendees overwhelmed him when his gun had jammed. He pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges. He faces the death penalty if found guilty on all charges, the Orange County DA said last year. He also could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole on the federal charges.
A public defender who has represented Chou in the murder case didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the federal charges.
Chou went to the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 15, 2022, with two 9 mm handguns, several backpacks containing extra magazines and four Molotov cocktail-type devices. He hid the backpacks in a church banquet hall, secured several of the banquet hall doors shut, and then mingled with the parishioners who were there for a luncheon in honor of one of the church’s pastors.
Investigators say Chou shot several of the attendees, including 52-year-old Dr. John Cheng, who was there with his mother. According to witnesses, Cheng tried to disarm Chou, but was fatally shot. When Chou’s gun jammed, several other parishioners attacked him, hit him with a chair and hogtied him with an electrical cord until Sheriff’s deputies arrived.
Five other parishioners, aged 66 to 92 years old, were wounded in the attack.
According to news reports last year, authorities believed that Chou was motivated to attack the Taiwanese churchgoers by his hatred of Taiwan stemming from the years he lived there as a boy after his family was forced from mainland China when Communists took control.
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