NEW YORK – New York City authorities said two more possible anti-gay attacks have been reported, just hours after residents rallied in response to gay-bashing that has left one person dead and raised concern about hate crimes.
A 45-year-old man was attacked late Monday in Manhattan by a drinking companion who yelled an anti-gay slur and knocked him unconscious, police said. A suspect was being sought.
And two men were walking in Manhattan early Tuesday when two other men yelled homophobic insults in Spanish and attacked them. The pair was arrested on hate crime assault charges.
The reports come as the New York Police Department increased a presence in several neighbourhoods through the end of June, which is Gay Pride Month.
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On Saturday, Mark Carson was shot in the face and killed as he walked with a companion through Greenwich Village, one of the nation’s most gay-friendly neighbourhoods. Police say a man was charged with murder as a hate crime.
Carson’s shooting came after other attacks fueled by anti-gay anger in recent weeks, authorities said.
On Monday, Carson’s killing drew thousands of people to the scene of the crime for a march intended to restore a sense of safety.
Among those leading the march was Christine Quinn, the city’s first openly gay City Council speaker. In a statement on Tuesday, she expressed shock and anger over the latest incidents.
“We will not retreat in fear,” she said.
Despite a sharp spike in reports of anti-gay crimes – 29 so far this year, compared with 14 during the same period in 2012 – investigators don’t see a pattern to the attacks, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at the briefing. There was no indication that the two most recent reports were related to Monday’s march, he added.
At a police headquarters briefing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the violence deplorable.
“We are a place that celebrates diversity, a place where people from around the world come to live free of prejudice and persecution, and hate crimes like these are an offence against all we stand for as a city,” the mayor said.
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