Asian Man, Parents Attacked Near Washington National Cathedral

WASHINGTON, DC — A D.C. man charged in connection with an assault on an Asian American family on Saturday night near the National Cathedral has been released from jail.

The Metropolitan Police Department charged Patrick Joseph Miller Trebat, 38, with one count of felony assault, two counts of simple assault and one count of destruction of property. A police incident report listed the assault as a suspected hate crime.

The court documents show Trebat is a resident of Cathedral Ave. NW, near where the incident occurred. Trebat was released by a judge two days after his arrest on the condition that he be placed in the court’s High Intensity Supervision release program, according to the Washington Blade.

The victims — a 30-year-old man and his parents, ages 54 and 61 — were walking on the 2800 block of Wisconsin Ave. NW around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday when they were approached by Trebat who was shouting expletives, according to the charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court.

The family met with the police nearby in the 3700 block of Fulton Street NW where they were pointing at Trebat, stating he had assaulted them, the documents say.

The son told police he heard Trebat call him and his family "faggots" and then yell, "You are not Americans," before he began to assault him and his parents, according to a police affidavit accompanying the documents filed with the court (Case No. 2021 CF2 004517).

The family told the police they feel they were targeted by Trebat because of their race. The three family members were transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.

The Washington Blade noted the charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office attribute the bias aspect of the crime only to the three victims’ “actual or perceived national origin.” The charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office do not attribute the attack to bias related to the son's actual or perceived sexual orientation, even though one of the charging documents quotes Trebat as using the word “faggots.”

Although the son's sexual orientation is not disclosed in the police report or the arrest affidavit, a close friend contacted the Washington Blade to say he wishes to be identified as an out gay man. The friend said the son plans to release a public statement about the incident after more details about the case become known, the Washington Blade reported.

Trebat's next scheduled appearance in court for a felony status conference is set for Nov. 15, according to Superior Court records.