Gang attacked gay couple in broad daylight as onlookers did nothing

A gang of young men shouted slurs at a gay couple and threatened to kill one of them before attacking them in broad daylight using a wooden plank with nails in it. The attack hospitalized one of the gay men, and the couple said onlookers and police were slow to respond.

Callum Griggs, a 23-year-old teaching assistant and coach, was walking last Sunday evening in East London with his 24-year-old boyfriend Brad Balueta. Around 5:30 p.m., they saw a group of about six to seven men between the ages of 18 to 20. The men in the group began shouting anti-gay slurs at the couple, calling them “f*g” and “batty boy” (a Jamaican Patois slur for a gay or effeminate man).

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“My boyfriend turned around & simply asked what was the need for that & why they had to call us those slurs which was then followed by the boys getting irate,” Balueta wrote on Twitter. “He then asked them to calm down (which they didnt) & in return they shouted threats.”

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“One told him he knew where he lived, then named the street, and told him, ‘I will kill you,'” Balueta told Yahoo News UK.

The gang members reportedly grew more aggressive until one grabbed a wooden plank with nails sticking out of it and began waving it around Griggs’ face.

“It is all a bit hazy after that,” Balueta said. “One of them went for Callum, he grabbed his shirt then another sucker-punched him in the back of the head.”

“I was terrified, they were piling on to him and it was three on one. They were punching and kicking him,” he continued. Although the attack happened outside of a fast-food restaurant, Balueta said, “So many people were staring but nobody came to help.”

The attack lasted several minutes before the gang fled. While leaving, one member laughed and shouted at Griggs, “I’ve got your blood on my hands.” Griggs had a bleeding gash on his eyebrow and a tear on his right arm.

Eventually, two women in a car stopped and transported the couple to their home. The couple called police, and officers told them to visit a hospital emergency room to treat Griggs’ injuries. Medical workers sealed his eye injury with body-safe glue.

However, even though police said that they would visit the couple to take their statements at 2 p.m. on Monday, Balueta said nobody came to take statements until Wednesday morning. No arrests have been made. A police spokesperson said they couldn’t comment on the incident.

Over 24,000 hate crimes occur each year against people because of their sexual orientation, according to Britain’s Home Office.

Robbie de Santos, director of external affairs at the U.K. LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Stonewall, said that he himself had also been targeted in an anti-gay attack.

“What concerns me even more is that political leaders haven’t acted seriously or quickly enough,” de Santos said. “Instead, many of them are filling the public domain with toxic language that dehumanizes LGBTQ+ people and legitimizes violence.”

“The U.K. government failed to implement any sort of strategy that responds to their own statistics and reports,” he added. We need a strong and committed leadership that moves away from divisive distractions and instead addresses the real problems of people in this country. We shouldn’t be treated like second-class citizens.”