https://web.archive.org/save/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fnews%2Fasian-america%2Fflorida-attack-asian-american-man-aquitted-hate-crime-rcna135953

According to a police report, Mealor and a friend were looking for his girlfriend near a harbor, at one point asking individuals on a docked boat if they had seen her. Muller, who was on the boat, allegedly told the victim he looked “sketchy,” the report said, and ordered them to leave before shouting racial slurs at Mealor, who is of Asian descent and blind in one eye.

“As the victim and witness walked away, the defendant called the victim a ‘cross eyed g—,’” the report said, referring to an offensive term used for Asian Americans. “The victim continued to walk away from the boat, and then heard the defendant call him a ‘lazy eyed g—.’”

Muller ran after Mealor and his friend, the report said. He knocked the friend to the ground before punching Mealor with a closed fist and knocking him unconscious, according to law enforcement.

Muller had previously pursued a “stand your ground” legal challenge, a Florida law that authorizes the use of deadly force in self-defense, but the motion was denied.