Monroe man speaks out about being a hate crime victim

Perez Martinez left Mexico for the states 12 years ago for work. Now, he calls Monroe home. When you think of home, you think safe, but that's not how Martinez felt back in February.

"There are people out there who think we're bad because of the color of our skin. They think we're bad because we're Mexicans," Martinez said.

He said he was walking down South Grand St. when two men approached him, then threw him on the ground and put a knife to his neck.

Congressman Ralph Abraham (R-Alto) spoke out.

"We certainly want to dial down rhetoric we want to dial down evil and dial down the homegrown terrorism. It's going to be a difficult task. But, this is America. We're better than that, and we can get this fixed," Abraham said.

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