News (USA)

New York teen left blinded in one eye following brutal, anti-gay assault

New York teen left blinded in one eye following brutal, anti-gay assault

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn teenager was was left blind in one eye after being assaulted by bullies who shouted anti-gay epithets during an attack earlier this month at his middle school, according to the teen’s family

Kardin Ulysse, 14, has undergone two surgeries on his right eye since the June 5 attack in the cafeteria at Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Bergen Beach, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, reported the New York Daily News.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Kardin Ulysse (center) with parents Pierre and Rose

Kardin, an eighth-grader, was allegedly assaulted by two seventh-graders who, during the course of the attack, called him a “fucking faggot,” a “pussy,” a “transvestite” and “gay,” according to a Department of Education occurrence report.

According to the Kardin, one classmate pinned him down while the other punched him repeatedly — the fight continued in the cafeteria until it was broken up by school safety officers and school aides.

Kardin now wears a bandage over his right eye. Doctors are not sure if the blindness occurred as a result of the punches, or by shards of glass from his eyeglasses.

The Ulysse family has filed a $16 million lawsuit again the Department of Education for failing to properly supervise the students, and their attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, said the school report was evidence that the attack was unprovoked.

Rubenstein has also called for authorities to investigate whether the attack is a hate crime and upgrade the criminal charges to felonies; because they’re minors, the two alleged bullies were charged with misdemeanors in Family Court.

Kardin’s parents did not comment about their son’s sexual orientation; Rubenstein said the gay slurs used against his client “were meant to hurt.”

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