HE SEEMS NICE

Ashli Babbitt’s Brother Convicted of Hate Crime for Racist Assault

Roger Stefan Witthoeft Jr., 34, is facing up to a year in jail for attacking a Latino utility worker last year.

The half-brother of Ashli Babbitt, a San Diego Air Force veteran who was fatally shot by police while storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, faces up to 12 months in jail for assaulting a Latino utility worker last year. Roger Stefan Witthoeft Jr., 34, was convicted on misdemeanor battery charges with a hate crime enhancement, San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott announced Wednesday. On Sept. 14, 2021, Witthoeft “aggressively confronted” the man as he diverted traffic around a job site, then attacked him while hurling racial slurs, Elliott said in a statement. Witthoeft was previously convicted of vandalism for kicking a window out of a 71-year-old Latino man’s camper in 2016. He is also facing charges for allegedly assaulting a man in April whose car was blocking the sidewalk while the driver tried to help his disabled friend out of the vehicle.