Arlington Man Found Guilty Of 2019 Hate Crime Attack On DC Workers

WASHINGTON, DC — An Arlington man was found guilty by a Washington, D.C., jury for assaulting two Latino construction workers with a tool while screaming racist and xenophobic epithets.

After a three-day trial, the D.C. jury on Tuesday found Kurt Madsen, 53, guilty of two bias-related assaults and possession of a prohibited weapon in an incident that occurred on July 13, 2019, in Northwest D.C.

On Friday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert D. Okun sentenced Madsen to 540 days in jail, but suspended the jail term to the time already served by the Arlington man on the condition that Madsen successfully completes two years of probation. Madsen was jailed for a total of 160 days before the trial.

At about 6 p.m. on July 13, 2019, as workers at a construction site near Seventh Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW were shutting down for the day, Madsen, who was not working at the site, asked to use their power washer.

After the workers refused to give him permission to use the power washer, Madsen became enraged and began screaming epithets at the Latino construction workers, according to evidence presented at the trial.

Madsen then picked up a scraper, a long, rod-like construction tool with a sharp metal blade at one end, and struck one of the victims in the back. He then attempted to stab the victim in the stomach with the blade of the scraper, according to prosecutors.

The second victim tried to intervene, and Madsen struck that man in the face several times, cutting the victim’s face and loosening two of his teeth.

Two bystanders saw the attack and stopped to help. One bystander took the scraper from Madsen and remained on the scene until police arrived. The other bystander called 911. Madsen was arrested at the scene by D.C. police officers.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Benjamin Helfand and Bonnie Lindemann prosecuted the case against Madsen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shalin Nohria and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Millicent Jones investigated the case.