Suspects Held
Alleged Georgetown attackers set for Wednesday hearing
Police have arrested two men suspected of a hate crime in an assault on two gay men in Georgetown over the weekend.
The suspects, Ruddad Abdulgader and Saad Elarch, are being held without bond ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 8, in front of D.C. Superior Court Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr.
Washington Metropolitan Police Department Acting Lt. Brett Parson, who heads all MPD’s special liaison units, including the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, confirms that the two suspects were arrested shortly after the attack, in which they allegedly used homophobic language while confronting two gay men walking along the C&O Canal in Georgetown during the early hours of Friday, Oct. 3.
The two suspects have been charged with a felony for allegedly assaulting one of the two victims with a glass bottle. That victim was treated at a local hospital for injuries, including cuts to his face, and released.
An unidentified source described as being “close to the case,” told the Washington Blade newspaper that the suspects were of Middle Eastern descent and told the victims that in their home country, the victims would be killed for being gay. Parson confirms that report, characterizing the attack “an isolated incident.”
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