Tuesday, September 18, 2012

NBC 4: Alleged Anti-Gay Bias Attack Saturday


View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

NBC 4 interviews a man who says he was attacked after attending the H Street Festival with friends. The man was walking down H Street with a friend when a group of men followed them, and one punched him in the face. The group then laughed, and used anti-gay slurs. The victim did not file a police report Saturday, and says he now regrets not doing so. Officers from MPD did respond to the scene.

+++++++++++
UPDATE
+++++++++++

I received a phone call from a credible source who says he saw what happened. My source claims that the alleged victim was not attacked, but rather tripped and fell. My source says the guy appeared intoxicated. According to my source, after the man fell, someone offered him a towel to clean up, and he stumbled off into an alley. An MPD officer followed the man into the alley.

Did you witness this event? It occurred at 10th and H Street. If you saw something, please email me directly at elise.bernard[at]gmail.com.

+++++++++++
UPDATE
+++++++++++

It looks like my source witnessed a separate incident in which a man fell. The attack mentioned above allegedly occurred at 6th and H. I apologize the confusion.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

sickening

Anonymous said...

His story seems odd, like not the full story. I mean, why did they attack him? If he wasn't robbed it seems like there must have been something that led to it. Not that it was justified but I don't know, seems like there is more to this story than he's telling. How did these assailants even know he was gay anyway? There must have been some prior interaction. Sad to see people resorting to violence to resolve petty disputes however.

Anonymous said...

HIs story is definitely odd. Some things that stuck out for me:

-Only photo of alleged injuries is really blurry, with a a couple scrapes on the cheek (doesn't look like he was beaten by 2-3 guys- more consistent w/ falling down)

-He looks fine 2 days later- again, not consistent with getting your @ss whipped by 2-3 people

-I don't know anyone who's bee assaulted/robbed 4 times in the past 6 years. Seems oddly high.

-With all the screwed up traffic near the festival, how'd the assailants' friends quickly arrive with a getaway car at just the right time?

I guess any of these on their own can be explained away, but it seems odd with them all together.

Anonymous said...

Damn homophobic sidewalks

dave b said...

this is news? i'm sure in any high school across the country someone gets punched (maybe in the face) and called a gay slur once a week whether the target is gay or not.

i;ve never had a black eye, but from people i've known who have gotten them, dont they get blacker a couple days later

Anonymous said...

wow. According to that dude's description, it's like Val Kilmer and Danny Trejo were riding shotgun while Bobby D stomped him down. Such planning. Such cunning. I truly hope he's ok.

Anonymous said...

What a dumb non-story. I empathize. I've been punched randomly on the street. It sucked but it didn't warrant a segment on the nightly news.

Anonymous said...

IF this is indeed due to the assailants perceiving the victim as gay (whether he is or not makes no difference), it makes this story very much news. It's not just another person randomly punched in the face. It's the reason I'm afraid to hold my girlfriend's hand as we walk down the street in this city. It's just sad.