Boston stabbing victim believes he was attacked because he’s gay and Black
Police are seeking to identify three suspects, but do not believe the attack constitutes a "hate crime"
Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying three people who allegedly stabbed a gay Black man in South Boston earlier this month.
The incident occurred on Dec. 18 around 10:45 p.m. near West Broadway and F Street. The victim, 25-year-old Anthony Crumbley, says he was walking home from a bar when he was jumped by a trio of individuals, stabbed, and left to bleed out.
He was rushed to a Boston Medical Center, where he was treated for, and continues to recover from, life-threatening injuries.
“The two males and a female approached me and two males attacked me and stabbed me in my neck and in my stomach, and pretty much ran and left me there,” Crumbley told CBS affiliate WBZ-TV.
Crumbley says he believes that his sexual orientation may have played a role in the stabbing, although police say they have no evidence that the attack meets the necessary elements to be considered a “hate crime.”
“I believe it was an attack that had to do with gay hate because, you know, I dress very femme and I’m a very outspoken person,” he said.
Crumbley has since started a GoFundMe page to help defray the medical expenses incurred by his hospitalization.
He noted in his description of the fundraiser that he is a single guardian for his 12-year-old sister, and has only been able to recently recover from financial hardship related to the death of his mother last year due to graft-versus-host disease, a form of leukemia.
See also: Teenage girl pelted with cans of food by men yelling anti-gay slurs
Crumbley claims that his left arm is non-functional due to severed nerves in his shoulder, and that his stomach and intestines were also severed, along with major arteries in his abdomen.
He says he will have to undergo physical therapy and additional surgeries to fix the problems. He also continues to assert that the attack against him should be considered a hate crime.
Crumbley said that he is terrified to go home unless the perpetrators can be arrested.
“Come forward and give up the information on who they are, because this is terrifying for me. This type of trauma,” Crumbley added.
Those with information about the attack or the assailants are asked to call Boston Police at 617-343-4742.
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