Gay man brutally beaten by Atlanta gang on video to step up and speak out
[UPDATE: The victim, Brandon White, spoke out at a press conference Wednesday, Feb 8.]
A terribly disturbing act of violence appeared on the shock video site World Star Hip Hop this week in which a man was beaten for being gay.
In the recording three alleged gang members wait outside of a store for a fourth man to exit. The attackers sucker punch the unsuspecting victim, then they continually pummel him in the head and kick him while he’s down on the sidewalk. The attackers laugh and chant “No faggots in Jack City” during the attack. Numerous witnesses are seen observing the assault. Only one appears to passively try to tell the attackers to stop.
Media reports now say police have identified the victim as 20-year-old Brandon White. CBS Atlanta attended a community meeting where an acquaintance, Greg Smith of the HIV Intervention Project, said White will be bravely coming forward to address the crime:
“Understand this, he is saying, ‘I want to do something. Don’t treat me like a victim.’ His issue is everybody keeps looking at him like he was weak. He is not weak. Don’t treat him like he is weak. Don’t treat him like he is broken. Ain’t nothing wrong with him besides his courage being broken. He wants to stand up and do something.”
Police initially told ABC 2 that they were first notified by The Smoking Gun about the incident and that no victim had stepped forward at that time. WSBTV quotes Devon Barrington Ward of Change Atlanta as calling the attackers “cowards” and asking people to pressure elected officials to do more:
“Georgia is one of the only place without hate crime legislation and that needs to stop. It’s sad that something like this has to take place in order for us to probably get some traction. This, unfortunately, has to be a teachable moment.”
AJC reports that the FBI is looking into the incident as a possible federal hate crime.
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