possible hate crime assault in seattle

In Seattle, a University of Washington senior resident physician suffered life-threatening injuries during a fight, and now Seattle Police are asking the public to help find the man who assaulted him: Doctor injured in Belltown fight.

36-year-old Peter Choi was walking around Third Avenue and Cedar in Belltown with friends when they came across two men who made a racial comment toward the whole group. Choi got upset and started arguing with them, but the attacker punched him, causing him to fall and strike his against the sidewalk. Then the assailant and several witnesses ran away before officers drove up.

According to police, the racial comment that started the fight doesn't automatically make it a hate crime... which is ridiculous to me. Must an assailant be shouting racial slurs while he's throwing the actual punch in order for it to qualify as a hate crime? This is a hate crime. That's racist!

The main assailant is described as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, 22 to 29 years old; he was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. The second man, a possible witness, is a white male who was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. Help the police find these suspects!