Three charged in alleged anti-LGBTQ+ hate-crime attack on 72-year-old man
A New York police car.(Credit: Getty Images)
Three teenagers have been charged in relation to an attack on a 72-year-old man in New York City in an alleged anti-LGBTQ+ hate-crime.
On 15 September, at around 10.15pm, the man was severely beaten by four assailants in an unprovoked attack near the corner of West 17th Street and Ninth Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan – a neighbourhood popular with the LGBTQ+ community.
Police claimed that four people hurled homophobic slurs at the victim while punching and kicking him.
The victim was reportedly left with a broken jaw and several cuts to his body. He was treated at a local hospital.
On Monday (9 October), The New York Post reported that three, aged 13, 14 and 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been charged with gang assault, assault as a hate-crime and possession of a weapon.
The incident follows the death of dancer O’Shae Sibley, who was voguing with friends at a petrol station on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, on 29 July, when they were approached by a group of young men.
Sibley suffered a stab wound to the chest and his death sparked an outpouring of grief in the US and around the world.
On 11 August, suspect, Dmitriy Popov, 17, pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder as a hate crime, second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter as a hate-crime, first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He is due to return to court later this month.
