An Australian gay man says he and his brother were ‘hunted down’ and brutally beaten by a group of teenagers.
The 21-year-old was visiting family in Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland when he said he and his 16-year-old brother were attacked because of his sexuality.
(Warning: This post contains strong language.)
The victim, identified as “Joshua,” told the Gold Coast Bulletin that he and his brother were on a bus when a group of teenagers started yelling homophobic slurs, including “fucking faggots” and “gay cunts.”
Then, later that afternoon, Joshua said the same teenagers plus others — about ten in all — attacked him and his brother in the food court of a Westfield mall.
Joshua said the teenagers appeared to be “hunting” someone, before spotting him and his brother. The teenagers approached and started beating them, forcing the brothers to the ground, where the youths stomped on them.
The attackers only stopped when a security guard intervened, Joshua said.
“They were bloodthirsty, they were animals,ā Joshua told Nine News Gold Coast. āThe first time was very traumatic but the second time they hunted us down.
āThey were stomping on my head. They were stomping on my brotherās head. They were punching us. They were kicking us,” he said. “We were both down on the ground. We werenāt able to defend ourselves.ā
Joshua called the attack “relentless” and said it left him with broken ribs and a swollen face. His brother had fractured ribs, a split lip, and a swollen eye.
Local media reports that police have arrested two individuals in connection with the attack, an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old. Both have been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, and the 18-year-old will be tried as an adult. Police are searching for the other attackers.
Joshua said that he feels he can never return to Queensland, and is dealing with guilt over his sexuality placing his brother in harm’s way.
āItās just horrible. Itās cruel,ā he said. āIt was completely unwarranted, itās just brutal violence. Itās a hate crime. I feel like I canāt go back to Queensland. Itās shaken me.
āI feel like me being gay, that I have put [my brother] in danger,” he added. “It wasnāt once but twice. I have a lot of guilt.ā
Two brothers are recovering after a terrifying attack at Westfield Coomera.
Police in Paris, France, have arrested a homeless Tunisian migrant accused of killing four men whose bodies were later found in the Seine River. The case began on August 13, when a commuter spotted a corpse floating in the river. Investigators subsequently recovered three more bodies from the same stretch of water.
Autopsies confirmed all four victims were men. At least two had been strangled, though forensic experts could not determine the exact cause of death for the others, according to The Times. Police are investigating the four deaths as homicides.
California Democrat says House Oversight Chair James Comer made a "homophobic" remark after Democrats challenged his handling of the Epstein investigation.
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, fired back at Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) after Comer dismissed him as a "real big drama queen."
Comer's jab came after Democrats released a sexually suggestive letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The letter, featuring a drawing of a curvaceous woman used as the backdrop for birthday wishes, was allegedly signed by Donald Trump and included in a 2003 album celebrating Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump had been friendly with Epstein during the 1980s and 1990s.
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