Two gay men in Sydney say they were attacked by homophobic Trump supporter
Assailant was intoxicated and waited to ambush the couple outside of a local McDonald's
Two Australian men say they were set upon by an intoxicated, homophobic Donald Trump supporter outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney.
The two men say they were in line at the restaurant when the young man began rambling about Donald Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election.
“He was saying things like how white men rule now that Trump has won, I was horrified,” one of the men told The Star Observer. “But I turned around to the guy and said ‘I’m gay — do you have a problem with that?’ And with that, he went off.”
The man then amended his original statement to say, “Trump’s won, straight white men rule.” He also had to be restrained by his friends and dragged out of the restaurant.
The men grabbed their food and had planned to go home, but the Trump supporter was waiting for them.
“He hit me on the head, and because I’m a pretty big guy, I went down hard — immediately there was blood everywhere,” the victim recalls.
The second man was struck with a sharp object and sustained cuts as he fought back against their assailant. The assailant’s friends then dragged him away from the scene, but police arrived and caught him before he could escape.
The men credit the staff at McDonald’s and the Newtown Police for responding quickly to their attack. The men say police told them they obtained video footage which shows the attack and can be used as evidence when their assailant appears in court in a couple of weeks.
“Don’t just assume it’s 2016 and everything’s okay because clearly what’s happening in the world is affecting people’s judgment and mentality,” the man who was hit on the head told the Star Observer. “We all have to be aware that there are these inflammatory conversations now and issues affecting the world we live in, and it’s best to get away from it and not engage with it.”
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