Gay-Bashing Knicks Fan VIDEO; Couple Attacked and Victim No Longer Feels Safe in New York
Gay-bashing New York Knick fans are wanted for questioning over the beating of a gay couple that took place on May 5.
Nick Porto said that he and his boyfriend Kevin Atkins were assaulted by Knicks fans who were upset by the team's loss to the Indiana Pacers. Porto said he and Atkins were walking near Madison Square Garden on May 5 when a group of angry fans beat them and hurled gay slurs. Porto suffered a broken nose and Atkins' wrist was broken because of the attack. Atkins injuries have reportedly left him unable to resume his job.
Porto posted about the incident on Facebook.
"They called us f----ts. They made fun of my jeans - I made the jeans myself, for that day," he wrote. "Fists started flying. I was on the ground, and the only thing I could do, I reached out and grabbed someone's hair."
Their attackers took off before cops could arrive. The couple described the men who brutalized them as wearing jeans and wearing Carmelo Anthony's No. 7 Knicks jersey. Video footage released by the authorities on Thursday show eight men they would like to question and the police described one person of interest as a a 6-foot tall Hispanic male in his 20s. He had brown hair and a tattoo on his left arm.
The New York Police Department is investigating the incident but hasn't yet determined whether or not the case will be considered a hate crime, though the victims were convinced that it was. Porto even blamed himself for the injuries they sustained.
Their personal property, including an iPad and cell phone, were destroyed. Porto felt he should have walked away before the incident escalated.
"I'm so upset - it's my fault, I spoke back to them - that Kevin was hit. He didn't deserve it whatsoever," Porto said.
Porto also said that he no longer felt safe as a gay man in New York City. He believed that the social climate was changing and described himself as being foolish for thinking so.
"I was so naive to think that things were better here," he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)
