A gay father has been arrested and charged with felony vandalism after punching a right-wing social media personality who approached him and his husband while they were walking with their baby.
Video posted to Instagram by conservative commentator Ryley Niemi shows him approaching Anthony Vulin, a member of West Hollywood’s Business License Commission, and his husband, David, on Santa Monica Boulevard.
In the video, Niemi appears to conduct a man-on-the-street-style interview about same-sex parenting, but his questions echo common conservative talking points portraying gay men as child molesters or equating surrogacy with human trafficking.
“Have you ever heard about the statistics coming out that gay men are much more likely to commit child molestation?” Niemi asks. The couple appears shocked and says they have not, calling the claim “crazy.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird that you guys have a child but neither of you are a woman?” Niemi continues.
“No,” responds Anthony Vulin.
Niemi asks whether the couple used a surrogate. When they don’t respond, he says, “You paid a woman $50,000 to be pregnant?”
As the couple starts to walk away, David Vulin shouts at Niemi, “Who the fuck are you? I’m gonna fucking kick your ass,” and shoves him.
The edited footage then cuts to a fight in which David Vulin strikes Niemi in the head. A police officer appears in the background as the confrontation unfolds. The video also shows a passerby who had earlier helped break up the altercation telling Niemi and his crew they “deserve to be killed” before walking away.
In the video caption, Niemi claimed the man who struck him could face felony charges and that a $2,500 camera was broken during the encounter. He also linked to a fundraising page seeking donations for new equipment and security.
In a follow-up video, Niemi said that he tried to de-escalate the situation and claimed the couple “seemed to not care for their own baby’s safety.”
“If we were men who were morally delinquent, we may have fought back and hurt that baby,” he said. “But we do not do that.”
The couple tells a different story.
Anthony Vulin told the WeHo Times that he and his husband were walking when they were approached by four men — three with cameras — who claimed to be from CNN and asked them to participate in an interview about gay parenting.
Vulin said the questions quickly turned confrontational, and the situation escalated.
“They started right off the bat asking if we were aware of studies saying gay men who are parents are more likely to be child molesters,” he said. “People started pushing each other, and they were pushing me while I was holding the baby.”
Anthony Vulin also claimed that he and his husband were victims of a hate crime and that Niemi used anti-gay slurs. It was then that David Vulin struck Niemi, and the couple left the scene and went to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station to report the incident.
Anthony Vulin said deputies arrested his husband after he acknowledged striking someone during the confrontation. David Vulin was held for about 12 hours before being released. He said his husband was booked on a charge related to allegedly damaging camera equipment during the altercation.
“They said he broke a camera, which he didn’t,” he said. “Now we have to fight that.”
David Vulin was charged with a felony for “vandalism with loss valued equal or greater than $400.”
Many commenters on the Instagram video appeared to side with the Vulins.
“Go ask a straight couple questions implying they molest their newborn and I guarantee you the man will immediately behave aggressively to defend his family,” said one commentor. “That’s what happened in this video.”
“This isn’t a real conversation, it’s staged provocation,” wrote another. “Approaching a family with a baby and pressing them with loaded accusing questions isn’t a debate, it’s harassment for content.”
Anthony Vulin has launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking $100,000 to help cover his husband’s legal costs. The campaign has raised more than $59,000.
A gay couple who star in a fashion-focused reality TV series have shared video of an unknown man attacking their car in an apparent fit of extreme road rage.
Patrik Simpson and Pol' Atteu, who co-host the Amazon Prime series Gown and Out in Beverly Hills and the Undressed podcast, say they were driving on Sunday, March 29, between 9:20 and 9:30 a.m. when, while stopped at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Vine Street in Hollywood, the driver of a gray Toyota 4Runner with a roof rack blocked their vehicle.
A federal jury in Los Angeles has awarded $2 million to LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Gemmel Moore, a Black gay man who died after being given a lethal dose of methamphetamine during a "party and play" sex session with high-profile Democratic donor Ed Buck.
Following two days of testimony, eight jurors deliberated for about an hour before returning a unanimous verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit.
"I miss my son every single day," Nixon said in a statement. "This verdict doesn’t bring him back, but...it means closure for me. It means I can fully mourn now. I have not been able to mourn. I have been in fight mode for eight years."
Charlie Brande, a college volleyball legend-turned-commentator is apologizing after suggesting during a broadcast that an openly gay opposing player should be punched in the face.
The former University of California-Irvine player and coach made the remark during a broadcast of an April 9 men's match between the UC-Irvine Anteaters and the Cal State Northridge Matadors.
As reported by Outsports, Brande grew tired of what he called on-court "antics" by Cal State Northridge player Jordan Lucas during the match, which UC-Irvine won 3-1. Both teams are ranked in the NCAA Division I men's volleyball top 25.
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