CLEVELAND, Ohio — A New York man visiting family in Ohio was attacked late Saturday night outside a popular Cleveland gay bar in what police are calling an anti-gay hate crime.
Jared Fox, 26, said he was headed from his parked car to the bar, when a group of approximately 20 men surrounded him on the sidewalk, using anti-gay slurs, according to a police spokesperson.
He said he was attacked by the group, punched in the face repeatedly and was knocked to the ground, while surveillance cameras captured grainy footage of the attack.
“They didn’t know if I had money. They didn’t know anything about me,” Fox told WKYC-TV. “They saw that there was a gay bar at the corner and they saw me walking to it.”
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“They said what’s in your pockets and I said, I got no money I’m broke, and they said, ‘oh so you’re one of those broke faggots?’ And then they just started swinging,” he said.
Cleveland police confirmed that bar patrons had made four separate calls to police to report the group for attempting to assault another man. By the time police arrived, Fox had already been attacked and the group had dispersed.
Fox suffered a ruptured right ear drum and some hearing loss, a black eye and dozens of bruises on his body.
Watch a report from WKYC-TV:
Phyllis Harris, executive director of The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, said the attack “is not new in the city of Cleveland.”
Cleveland is scheduled to host the international Gay Games in 2014.