UPDATE: Hate crime in the Village. Attacker confesses, claims to be gay.

[Original story, March 29th: Man says he was gay bashed in Manhattan’s West Village (of all places)]

[First update, March 31st: Police investigation underway and support from the community]

A homeless man identified as Anthony Bray, 21, was arrested yesterday night in Bushwick, Brooklyn, after an anonymous tip signaled him as one of the two men who were caught in tape by police surveillance cameras attacking Damian Furtch, 26, on Sunday morning. After receiving the tip police contacted Bray’s family who reached out to him; later on he surrendered to authorities.

Bray claims he attacked Furtch not because of his (perceived) sexuality but “because he was disrespectful to him.” Bray claims to be gay himself. Thus far Bray, who has prior arrests for marijuana possession, graffitti and robbery, was charged with misdemeanor assault; however police have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime charge. “NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force will continue to look into Furtch’s allegations and see if any additional charges are warranted” quoted the New York Post. According to them “It may come down to just two guys having a fistfight,” said one police source.

In the mean time a second suspect, also caught on tape, has not been identified yet. The question in everyone’s mind is whether this man, if caught, will claim to be gay too, and if these claims will be used in an attempt to escape hate crime charges. Should the argument be used it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether the sexuality of the attacker is relevant to the case, being that a hate crime is defined as an attack where “a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group”*. It will be up to prosecutors to prove whether Furtch, who claims was attacked for his “flamboyant outfit” and called a “fucking faggot” multiple times while being punched, was targeted for being gay.

*Source: Wikipedia