A South San Francisco man charged with five hate crimes after allegedly threatening to kill and charging pro-Palestine protesters at the South San Francisco library is requesting mental health diversion, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The man, 58-year-old Kent Keenan, originally pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony threats, two counts of felony battery and one count of attempted felony threat — all involving a hate crime.
His defense is now requesting he receive mental health diversion, an ask that will be heard Oct. 14, Wagstaffe said.
Keenan allegedly yelled and spit on one victim at the April 10 protest before attempting to charge two other victims, a woman and her daughter, Wagstaffe said. He allegedly yelled “Death to all you Palestinians and your kids and the kids in Gaza. ... I’m going to kill you, b—, I’m going to kill all you Palestinians,” and “I’ll kill you, I want all your people dead, bomb Palestine.”
Keenan was arrested and showed signs of intoxication, police said. He told police he was frustrated with protests outside the library and wanted to do an antiprotest, Wagstaffe said.
The maximum sentence for his charges is 14 to 15 years in state prison.
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