Police Make Contact With Suspect In Possible Hate Crime
Feb 17, 2019, 10:32 PM | Updated: Feb 18, 2019, 11:20 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Salt Lake City Police Department is investigating a possible hate crime involving a man seen on a cell phone camera allegedly assaulting another man after asking about his sexual orientation.
In a video posted online, a man can be seen and heard asking, “Are you gay, though?” The man behind the camera responds by saying, “Oh, I am.” Then, the man in front of the camera asks again, “Oh, then you’re gay?” As the man behind the camera begins to respond, the man in front of the camera swings and the camera goes fuzzy.
WARNING: this video contains explicit language.
Shock can then be heard from people standing around the area.
We don’t know at this time what happened prior to the recording or immediately following, but Salt Lake City Police tweeted that they have made contact with the suspect and he is cooperating with the investigation.
The SLCPD on Monday posted on Twitter that they’ve made contact with the suspect, and he is cooperating with the investigation.
SLCPD Detectives have made contact with the suspect who is cooperating fully with the #investigation.
— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) February 18, 2019
A friend of the alleged victim posted the video and the statement from the alleged victim on social media:
My friends and I were assaulted by an intoxicated man last night as we left a bar in downtown SLC. It started with him approaching us out of the blue and making homophobic and misogynistic comments towards our group. We started recording him and asked him to leave, he wouldn’t, and then went on to hit me and shove one of our girlfriends. At this point we became verbally aggressive to protect ourselves. We called the police immediately. He then pulled out a knife and pointed it towards us while continuing to call us faggots. He eventually ran off, got into his car (in his intoxicated state) and drove on the light-rail tracks until he sped off away from Main Street. This man is dangerous and needs to be held accountable for his actions. He drives what looked like a 2007 BMW X5. If you know who he is, please we me know so we may alert police.
The alleged victim was active on Twitter Sunday discussing the incident and answering questions.
My friends and I were assaulted by this homophobic man in downtown Salt Lake City last night. Anyone know him? The police are interested in having a chat with him. #SaltLakeCity @slcpd @slcmayor @EqualityUtah pic.twitter.com/1tPFSCADOp
— Salonge Knowles (@saltrejo) February 17, 2019
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski also posted about the incident on Twitter.
This has been reported to SLCPD and is being investigated. https://t.co/xNgxTDzyKH
— Mayor J. Biskupski (@slcmayor) February 18, 2019
