SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City man was charged with hate crimes after he allegedly admitted to threatening another man over his sexual orientation.
Damyen Vainuku, 18, faces multiple charges, including threat of violence and harassment, after an investigation found that he continually threatened a man he went to high school with.
Vainuku's alleged victim told detectives that he had told him to leave him alone "multiple times," the indictment states, but that Vainuku still attempted to follow him on social media.
After Vainuku attempted to add the victim on Snapchat on August 20, the charges claim he began to threaten to kill the victim and his family, reportedly telling him "he couldn't wait to kill a gay person."
Once police took Vainuku into custody on August 25, the indictment stated he admitted to sending images of guns to the victim and threatened to shoot him and his family in the head, and that the threats were made because of his "sexual orientation and gender identity."
Because Vainuku is believed to have targeted the victim because of his sexual orientation, Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill was able to add enhanced penalties for it to be declared a hate crime.
"Threats of violence are unacceptable; stalking and threats based on someone’s sexual orientation or how they appear are abhorrent and make our entire community less safe," said Gill.
