3 Arrested on Gay Hate Attack in Brooklyn, NY
Police have arrested and charged the two men and teenage boy who chased and shot a 22-year-old man dressed as a woman in Brooklyn on Saturday morning.
The victim was walking with a friend on Broadway near Putnam Ave. in Bushwick about 7 a.m. when he was attacked by Cody Sigue, 22, Matthew Smith, 21, and Tavon Johnson, 17, as they screamed profanities and anti-gay taunts at the pair, cops said.
The victim and his friend tried to get away, but the three creeps ran after them and opened fire, shooting the victim in the buttocks, police said.
The man was taken to Brookdale University Hospital, treated for his injuries and released.
Cops nabbed the attackers, all from Brooklyn, after a brief chase on foot, officials said.
Johnson and Sigue were charged with menacing and third-degree hate crime, while Smith was charged with assault in the first degree, cops said.
Police sources said Johnson has one prior arrest for marijuana, Sigue has one prior sealed arrest and Smith has "an extensive arrest history," with 14 arrests including robbery.
"It's messed up," said Daquan Ruddock, 24, a gay man who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant not far from the crime scene. "That shows how gay people can't walk around in the street without someone saying something or doing something towards them. It's sad."
Eric Dowling, 30, a barber at M.J. Beauty Salon, said the victim was a customer at the shop.
"It's a violent neighborhood — a lot of things happen," Dowling said. "It's a sad thing it happened to him."
Original Story as it appeared NY’s The Daily News
A 22-year-old man dressed as a woman survived a vile anti-gay attack in Brooklyn on Saturday when he was chased and shot by a group of men shouting homophobic slurs, police said.
The victim was walking with a friend on Broadway near Putnam Ave. in Bushwick when he was confronted by three young men screaming profanities and anti-gay taunts about 7:05 a.m., cops said. When the victim and his friend tried to get away, the creeps chased after them and opened fire, blasting the victim in the buttocks, officials said.
The man was treated at Brookdale University Hospital and released.
Three suspects were arrested at the scene, cops said. The Daily News is withholding their names because they weren’t charged.
The youngest suspect, just 17, has a staggering 17 prior arrests, police sources said, on charges including robbery, burglary, assault and conspiracy. The second suspect, who is 20, has two prior arrests, for pot and robbery, police sources said. The final suspect, who is 22, has one prior arrest for marijuana.
That shows how gay people can’t walk around in the street without someone saying something or doing something towards them. It’s sad.
“It’s messed up,” said Daquan Ruddock, 24, a gay man who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant not far from the crime scene. “That shows how gay people can’t walk around in the street without someone saying something or doing something towards them. It’s sad.”
Eric Dowling, 30, a barber at M.J. Beauty Salon, said the victim was a customer at the shop. “It’s a violent neighborhood — a lot of things happen,” Dowling said. “It’s a sad thing it happened to him.”
In 2008, an anti-gay attack on Ecuadoran immigrant Jose Sucuzhañay, just 10 blocks from Saturday’s shooting, made headlines and galvanized the city in outrage. Sucuzhañay, a father of two, was fatally beaten while walking tipsily with his brother by bat-wielding lowlifes who mistook him for gay. The Bushwick block of Kossuth Place where Sucuzhañay was killed has since been renamed in his honor.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Comments