CHICAGO — A military veteran who was assaulted outside of a South Loop grocery store last week spoke out at a press conference on Sunday.

The victim, Kevin Qin, said he suffered injuries to his head and body, and even lost consciousness.

According to Qin, the people who attacked him made derogatory racial comments about him, and he believes that may be the reason why he was assaulted.

“Basically what happened was very tragic and then something I thought would never happen in my life,” Qin said. 

It has been almost a week since Qin was violently attacked while he was going to a Jewel-Osco in the South Loop to buy ice cream.

“Of course, this is a little unsettling because the gravity of the situation, the fact that I was attacked by eight or nine individuals.”

Chicago police say the attack happened around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday near Roosevelt Road & South Wabash Avenue. 

Qin said he was toward the entrance of the grocery store when he walked around a woman who was leaving with a shopping cart. 

According to Qin, that woman allegedly hit him before a large group of men approached. 

Qin, along with community activists and asian-american neighbors, described the attack as a hate crime, but Chicago police have not determined the motive. 

“I just thought that, you know, there has to be a big racial component to it because of what happened and what was said,” Qin said. 

The 41-year-old, who served with the United States Marines in Iraq said his military training offered a tremendous advantage in defending himself against the suspects, but worried the attack could be repeated toward untrained individuals, as he feels the store location is a hit spot for crime. 

“The situation in the parking lot with many people loitering and just hanging around smoking, drugs and drinking alcohol and sometimes even fights broke out,” Qin said. 

Aside from Qin wanting the South Loop store location to become a peaceful place to shop, he also called for harsher laws to be implemented against those who commit crimes.

“These people who commit these kind of crimes, they know that there’s no punishment. It’s just going to be a slap on the wrist,” Qin said. 

Qin said none of his belongings were stolen during the attack, which makes him question the motive.

A spokesperson for Jewel-Osco said they are cooperating with authorities and added that detectives have reviewed security video of the alleged incident.