INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Joshua Witt Said He Was Stabbed For Looking Like A Neo-Nazi, Now Police Say He Stabbed Himself

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 16:37 PST, Aug 28, 2017

On August 16, Joshua Witt told law enforcement he’d been stabbed in the hand for looking like a neo-Nazi. As the Denver Post reports, the California man claimed on Facebook that his haircut was the reason he was targeted. According to Witt, his “moderately short” haircut was the reason that an unknown assailant stabbed him, despite also proclaiming that he had no conversation with the “dude” who did the stabbing.

When recounting his “harrowing” tale on social media, Joshua Witt told his Facebook followers that he was saved from a more devastating assault by the fact that he’d put his hands up to stop the attack. According to Witt, his attacker was a Colorado transient.

“Sooooooo apparently I look like a neo-nazi and got stabbed for it … luckily I put my hands up to stop it so he only stabbed my hand…. please keep in mind there was no conversation between me and this dude I was literally just getting out of my car.”

The 26-year-old reported the alleged stabbing, which he claimed took place outside of a Sheridan, Colorado Steak ‘n Shake, just days after the deadly, presumably racially-motivated Charlottesville, Virginia car-ramming terror attack. When Joshua Witt reported the alleged crime to Colorado authorities, he claimed that his African-American assailant asked if he was a neo-Nazi. At the time, investigators confirmed that the alleged attack would be classified as a hate crime if Joshua Witt was telling the truth about what happened.

“If that is accurate, it will be a bias-motivated crime.”

Unfortunately for Joshua Witt, it now appears that he made up his entire story of being stabbed for looking like a neo-Nazi. After weeks of investigation, Colorado authorities now claim that the U.S. Navy boatswain’s mate and San Diego resident fabricated the entire account. The motive for allegedly making up the divisive story has not been publicly speculated upon.

Regardless of why he did it, the Denver Post is reporting that local investigators are fairly certain that Joshua Witt faked the entire account of being racially targeted and stabbed for being perceived as a neo-Nazi. It is possible that Witt was attempting to capitalize on the publicity that stemmed from the deadly violence of the failed “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

According to investigators, they began to doubt that Joshua Witt was being truthful after they checked out surveillance videos from local businesses. Witt had reported that the transient who allegedly stabbed him had run away, fleeing the scene of the claimed assault. Police saw no such acts reflected in surveillance videos. What’s more, after interrogating a local transient man who fit the description of Joshua Witt’s alleged assailant, they cleared the man.

Even more damning, additional surveillance tapes reportedly showed Joshua Witt purchasing a “small knife” at a local sporting goods store not long before he claimed he was pegged a neo-Nazi and randomly attacked. After local Colorado police confronted Witt with the evidence they’d gathered, the former “victim” reportedly admitted that he’d fabricated the story in the midst of the nation’s racial discord.

According to Witt, he’d accidentally cut himself with his newly purchased blade before filing a police report claiming he’d been attacked for resembling a neo-Nazi.

After his reported admission of guilt, Joshua Witt was booked into jail and charged with one count of false reporting to authorities. The San Diego resident who had formerly claimed to have been stabbed for looking like a neo-Nazi faces up to one year in jail and a $2,650 fine if convicted.

[Featured by Sheridan Police Department]

Share this article: Joshua Witt Said He Was Stabbed For Looking Like A Neo-Nazi, Now Police Say He Stabbed Himself
Crime
More from Inquisitr