SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Two men described by prosecutors as white supremacists have been charged for their alleged roles in racially motivated attacks on three people last year at the Oceanside pier, while a third man pleaded guilty Wednesday to hate crime offenses for his part in the attacks.
A grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges the men attacked the victims on the night of June 7, 2025, by punching, kicking and stomping on them without provocation due to the victims' race.
Prosecutors say the first attack happened at around 8:30 p.m. on a victim identified in court documents only as T.L.W.
The victim, who is Black and Asian American, was sitting on a bench with his wife when Austin Yohe, 23, of Riverside and Daniel Burns, 30, of Wilsonville, Alabama, allegedly announced they were "skinheads," then began punching and kicking him, then slammed his head into a nearby concrete building, authorities said.
When the victim tried to crawl away from his attackers, Johnny Lee Lane, 23, of Riverside, allegedly yelled "Get that (N-word)!" and kicked and stomped on T.L.W.
The attack left him hospitalized with serious injuries that included a concussion, swelling to his head, cuts and bruises, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Later that night, the trio then allegedly attacked a pair of U.S. Marines: a Black man identified as T.J. and a white man identified as E.H. Prosecutors say the men first yelled the N-word and other slurs at the men, then later Yohe punched E.H. in the face unprovoked and Burns then allegedly punched T.J. in the head.
The trio then allegedly started assaulting the Marines by striking and kicking them, with one of the defendants at one point calling E.H. an "(N- word) lover."
E.H. sustained a concussion, orbital fracture, sinus fracture and fractured cheekbone, while T.J. sustained multiple head contusions and a hand injury, officials said.
Along with hate crime offenses, Yohe and Burns, who are alleged admitted members of a group that espouses white supremacist ideology, are charged with lying to investigators about their roles in the attacks.
Burns allegedly told FBI agents that E.H. first punched Yohe and also told Oceanside police he was not with Yohe. Yohe allegedly told a Riverside County court employee that he and his friend were attacked in Oceanside.
Yohe made his initial court appearance in San Diego federal court on Wednesday, while Burns remains in custody in Alabama and awaits extradition to California.
Lane pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal hate crime offenses and is set to be sentenced in January.
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