2 arrested in Kennesaw attack that could lead to hate crime charges, police say

KENNESAW, Ga. - Police charged two men in the alleged beating a Kennesaw State University student outside his car at an apartment complex. 

Gauge Dakota Stanley, 20, and Kole Zuba Reasoner, 20, are both charged with felony aggravated battery and misdemeanor battery for allegedly attacking Jalique Rosemond at the West 22 apartment complex in Kennesaw.

Kennesaw police told FOX 5 Atlanta in a statement:

"Based on the statements of the victim, this ultimately could be racially motivated. A peace officer cannot charge for a hate crime. It is a sentencing enhancement brought on during the prosecution of the case."

Georgia's hate crimes statute allows for additional penalties to be imposed for crimes motivated by a victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors

Kennesaw police said the attack happened at around midnight on Sunday at the West 22 apartment complex on Cherokee Street. It's about two miles north of the Kennesaw State University campus.

At the scene, police talked to a man bleeding from his nose. He told police he was getting out of his car when two white men beat him to the ground and kicked him in the face while calling him the N-word, according to a police report.

"I want people to understand this was very traumatic for me", said Rosemond. 

Rosemund said he didn't know the people who attacked him.

"They just pounced on him, hitting him, abusing him. They did kick him in the nose and his nose was fractured. They pulled out his dreadlocks," said Rosemond's roommate Emmanuel Osakwe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.