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Knicks Fans Accused Of Beating Up Gay Couple Near Madison Square Garden
By
Jen Chung
Published May 7, 2013
Modified May 17, 2013
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NYPD
By
Jen Chung
Published May 7, 2013
Modified May 17, 2013
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The police are looking for four men who allegedly attacked a gay couple on Sunday—and the police are considering it as a possible bias assault. One of the victims wrote on Facebook, "A group of Knicks fans were upset about the game"—the Knicks lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals—"and they just decided to ‘fag bash’ the two of us."
According to the NYPD, at around 6:44 p.m. outside of 490 Eighth Avenue (between 34th and 35th Streets), two men, a 22-year-old and a 28-year-old, were walking down the street when a group of four men started to "verbally harass" them with "anti-gay remarks. Members from the group further approached the victims, pushed them to the ground and began punching [the 28-year-old] in the face, causing him to sustain a nasal fracture. [The 22-year-old] sustained bruising to his right hand. Both victims were treated and released from Bellevue Hospital."
The 28-year-old, fashion designer Nick Porto, posted on Facebook, "My partner Kevin [Atkins] and I got jumped yesterday in broad daylight in midtown. A group of Knicks fans were upset about the game and they just decided to ‘fag bash’ the two of us. They broke my nose and his wrist, and broke several hundreds of dollars worth of personal property."
He told DNAinfo, "They called us f----ts. They made fun of my jeans — I made the jeans myself, for that day." He says he turned around to ask why they were yelling at him, and that's when the attack started, "Fists started flying. I was on the ground, and the only thing I could do, I reached out and grabbed someone's hair." Porto was also regretful, "It's my fault, I spoke back to them — that Kevin was hit. He didn't deserve it whatsoever. I was that idiot that should have just walked away."
The police describe the persons of interest as Hispanic men in their 20s and released surveillance images of one person of interest as a being about 6' with brown hair and a tattoo on his left forearm, last seen wearing a white t-shirt, white sneakers, jeans and a "Knicks" #7 jersey.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Tagged
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bias assault
gay
hate crime
knicks
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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