Gay journalist egged by men in a car at Pride celebration

An out crime reporter has confirmed what he outlined on social media this weekend: he and a group of friends were egged by assailants driving by in a car.

Now police are investigating and the victims of the immature act believe they were targeted because of their sexuality.

Related: Furious crowd forces armed police officers to release men arrested for kissing on a beach

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) journalist Mark Reddie apparently took to Twitter right after the incident, writing that while “walking home with a group of gay guys, a car drives by & the men inside throw cartons of eggs at us.”

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Reddie, a Sydney-based reporter who regularly appears on television and reports on the crime beat himself, added: “The male occupants laughing as they sped off.”

The attack took place as Reddie and the group were travelling on their way home just the morning after Mardi Gras, which is Sydney’s Pride  celebration.

Reddie said of the attack, “Wow. If you think some eggs are going to rattle us, think again. You did not succeed. I truly hope you find happiness. That is all.”

Still, Reddie did not receive sympathy from other Twitter users, with some quick to compare him to Jussie Smollett, who was accused of making up a homophobic attack two years ago, and others trying to assert that the victims being gay was “a coincidence.”

He replied to one detractor, “you have no idea. It was a gay hate crime. We were targeted because of sexuality.”

“The reason I shared it was not to give it air time, but to show that we still have a long way to go,” he added in a later tweet.

Although some might not have immediately believed Reddie, he was clear in dealing with this attack seriously. He went to the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force and filed a report within 48 hours of the attack. He even confirmed the news to News.com.au, including photos of the ground after the egging.

Other people in reply to Reddie’s story also noted that they were attacked with eggs in the same immediate area before.

“Similar attacks happened in the area according to reports. I’d encourage anyone who was attacked to contact police,” the journalist noted.

Reddie shared more details with the Australian LGBTQ publication Star Observer. “We were leaving a Mardi Gras party and there was a group of four of us. We were walking along Riley Street and a car screeched on its brakes and threw boxes of eggs at us,” he shared.

“They sped off laughing. As we walked up the road, there were egg shells everywhere. Clearly they were targeting the LGBTQI community – gay hate crimes still exist.”

Reddie has been working for the Australian ABC since 2013. He was previously with the BBC, Al Jazeera, and Sky News. In a statement on the event, ABC said, “Mark has made a report to police and he has the full support of the ABC.”

Adding that the attack is deplorable, they conclude, “We have offered him any assistance he needs.”