--- description: Two brothers from Boston beat up a Hispanic homeless man, and they said they were inspired by Donald Trump to do it. title: Donald Trump Inspired Beating of Homeless Latino, Police Say image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e18c157caf03f/698860263c1639368d45958b/donald-trump-border.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Cited as Inspiration in Beating of Homeless Latino, Police Say  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 20, 2015 2:29 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border outside of Laredo, Texas on July 23, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border outside of Laredo, Texas on July 23, 2015.Rick Wilking—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 20, 2015 2:29 PM CUT Two brothers from Boston who allegedly assaulted a homeless Hispanic man claimed they were inspired to do it by the nativist rhetoric of Donald Trump, police said. Scott and Steve Leader pleaded not guilty Wednesday to assault charges with a dangerous weapon, indecent exposure and making threats, [the Boston _Globe_ reports](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/19/homeless/iTagewS4bnvBKWxxPvFcAJ/story.html "undefined"), after they urinated on a sleeping homeless man and beat him with a metal pole. Police say Scott Leader told them it was alright to beat the man as he was homeless and a Latino. “Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported,” Scott allegedly said. Trump, whose remarks on Mexican “rapists” and deporting undocumented migrants have sparked controversy, commented on the assault to the _Globe_: “It would be a shame . . . I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate.” Both men have criminal records. Scott Leader was sentenced to a year in jail after attacking a Moroccan man shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. \[[_Boston Globe_](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/19/homeless/iTagewS4bnvBKWxxPvFcAJ/story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Cited as Inspiration in Beating of Homeless Latino, Police Say","datePublished":"2015-08-20T14:29:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:19:12.100Z","description":"GOP presidential frontrunner responds: \"I will say that people who are following me are very passionate\"","url":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/","keywords":["Crime","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e18c157caf03f/698860263c1639368d45958b/donald-trump-border.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa8e18c157caf03f/698860263c1639368d45958b/donald-trump-border.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border outside of Laredo, Texas","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is pictured at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border outside of Laredo, Texas","creditText":"Rick Wilking—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/","name":"Donald Trump Cited as Inspiration in Beating of Homeless Latino, Police Say"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind the Scenes With Donald Trump","description":"Trump Behind the Scenes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8z07UrJ6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-19T22:24:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8z07UrJ6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4004579/donald-trump-homeless-hispanic-crime/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```