by Richard Winton, 9/20/2017

“A 29-year-old man with white supremacist tattoos has pleaded not guilty to a hate crime and civil rights charges for allegedly threatening to kill customers and employees of Iranian descent inside a Lake Forest hookah lounge.

Orange County prosecutors say Andrew Alan Carruthers “acted aggressively” toward customers at the BluFig Hookah Lounge Friday about 9 p.m. and was asked to leave but kept returning.

Carruthers then allegedly threatened to kill customers and employees at the lounge, prompting a patron to call 911. Carruthers ran from Orange County sheriff’s deputies before surrendering on Lake Forest Boulevard. When arrested, Carruthers was wearing a T-shirt with an expletive and the word “ISIS,” an abbreviation often used for Islamic State. His Facebook page includes images of tattoos, including “Hate Boy” across his chest.”

Full Article:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hate-crime-hookah-20170920-story.html