>
A self-proclaimed “incel” has been charged with pepper spraying women in a series of hate attacks he filmed in Southern California.
Johnny Deven Young, 25 of Anaheim, near Los Angeles, is on trial for multiple charges, including assault and illegal use of tear gas with improvements to the use of a deadly weapon and hate crimes, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said Young posted videos online of himself pepper spraying and harassing women, stating that he was a so-called “incel,” a member of an online community of men who call themselves involuntary celibates and express anger at women.
Young was suspected of confronting female victims outside bars in Costa Mesa and assaulting several people in attacks between November 2021 and April this year, police said.
Johnny Deven Young, 25, a self-proclaimed ‘Incel’, is the suspect in a series of pepper spray attacks on women
oung approaches and attacks women who are alone or in groups
When the women defend themselves and fight back, he claims to be the victim and pepper sprays them as seen in the video above
“I just saw him with the camera and then he came in my face with it. I kind of thought it was a joke and he was just doing something, either for internet power, or just to be a weird social experiment,” Emily told Inside Edition
“You can’t describe the pain, it was terrible,” Jessica said of the pepper spray
He was identified by Costa Mesa police as a suspect in two attacks involving four women and a man who tried to stop one of the attacks.
In one incident, which took place in a Costa Mesa bar in the early hours of Nov. 21, police say Young began verbally “intimidating” a 29-year-old woman, using “explicit language” and saying he sexually assaulted a 29-year-old woman. wanted to see, and asked to have sexual relations with her.’
When her friend tried to help the woman, Young sprayed them both before fleeing.
He would then post video of the attacks online for other like-minded people to enjoy.
“I just saw him with the camera and then he came in my face with it. I kind of thought it was a joke and he was just doing something, either for internet power, or just to be a weird social experiment,” Emily, who was attacked, told me. Inside edition.
One video showed Young approaching a woman in tears in a parking garage.
One video shows Young describing his penis to three women sitting on a bench waiting for an Uber outside a nightclub
A woman fought back and threw her phone at Young after being sprayed with pepper spray
Young was left with a nosebleed after a woman decided to fight back
The women tell him her car has been stolen, but instead of helping, Young asks, “Can I contact you?”
After the woman refuses his advances, he verbally harasses her.
In another clip, Young can be heard describing his penis to three women sitting on a bench waiting for an Uber outside a nightclub.
One of them kicks him and instructs him to leave, after which Young would pepper spray her and her boyfriend, along with a third woman who tried to intervene
“You can’t describe the pain, it was terrible,” Jessica said of pepper spray.
Young was said to post a pseudonymous video of confrontations with people at various gyms and a fast food restaurant, but his social media pages were removed in April.
Young can be seen spraying a woman in the face with pepper spray in one of his alleged assaults
Young would live in a white and green van in a California parking lot
“No one should live in fear of being attacked indiscriminately and then publicly humiliated on the Internet because of their gender,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
“This behavior is disgusting and celebrating this behavior by like-minded people is completely unacceptable. These charges send a very strong signal to that entire community that we will not tolerate violence against women in any form.”
Young, who reportedly lives in a parking lot in a green-and-white van, was arrested in San Mateo County and returned to Orange County, where he appeared in court on Monday.
Young has a previous Nevada hate crime conviction and was charged with four felony assault charges with major bodily harm, four felony counts of illegal use of tear gas, four felony improvements for personal use of a deadly weapon, and eight felony hate crime improvements.
He is currently being held in lieu of $500,000 bail and his arraignment has been postponed to October 10.
He faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.