Sacramento community rallies for justice after alleged hate crime attack
Sacramento city leaders are calling for unity as Alvin Prasad fights for his life following an attack that police are investigating as a hate crime.Prasad was attacked after celebrating Halloween at Badlands, one of the city's most prominent LGBT+ friendly nightclubs. Sacramento Police officers who went to the Lavender Heights district found him with serious injuries.His daughter, Andrea, said he is still in a coma and not responsive, with a feeding tube still in place, three weeks after the attack.Outside Sacramento's City Hall Saturday night, a few dozen people gathered with candles, calling for justice for Prasad. Andrea described her father as "very, very vibrant," saying, "I'd say he's like sunshine or a rainbow. He likes to dress up in a lot of colors and just be himself."Police have arrested 24-year-old Sean Payton in connection with the attack. He faces a felony charge for assault with great bodily injury with a hate crime enhancement and a misdemeanor charge for resisting arrest, according to a complaint obtained by KCRA 3.Andrea said, "My dad used words and it got met with violence. And I don't think that is ever okay.""This is an awful thing that happened. The opportunity here is to come together so that we have more tools in the future and we have success," one of Alvin’s friends said on Saturday night. The gathering was also a call for community members to look out for each other. "Let's take all the people that are here, the energy that we have, the sadness, the frustration, the anger and let's turn that into action together and let's look out for one another,” Sacramento City Councilmember Caity Maple said. "We do not stand for this kind of behavior. We are a community that believes in love, believes in peaceful communication, an exchange of ideas that does not ever result in the kind of trauma and harm that we've seen here in this instance,” councilmember Phil Pluckebaum said. The councilmembers also discussed measures to make the city safer, including forming a neighborhood watch.Andrea said her father would be proud to see the support and sense of community at the gathering. "He would be really shocked, honestly. He always felt like a lot of people didn't really know him or notice him. He always felt like he didn't have friends. So, I think this would be a lot for him in a good way,” Andrea said. Payton appeared in court before a judge briefly on Monday. His attorney asked the hearing to be moved to next month. He'll next appear in court on Dec. 16.Andrea Prasad shared a fundraiser to help cover her father's medical expenses.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
