A gay man is recovering after being attacked in the Logan Circle area of Washington, D.C. by four men who cited ‘a Trump America’ during the assault.
via Washington Blade:
A police report, which lists the incident as an anti-gay hate crime, says Logan Circle resident Robert Richard Brice Kohler told police the incident began about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1 while he walked his dog in front of a large row house at 1334 Vermont Ave., N.W.
“Victim 1 was walking his dog near the listed location when he became aware of the presence of Suspect 1 through Suspect 4,” the police report says. “Victim 1 heard Suspect 1 state, “Hey Snowflake! This is what a Trump America looks like, faggot!”
The report continues: “Suddenly, without provocation, Suspect 1 through Suspect 4 began throwing objects at Victim 1, striking him countless times in the face and head. Victim 1 suffered injuries and fled home to tend to those injuries,” the report says. “The suspects fled on foot.”
Acting D.C. Police Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the police LGBT Liaison Unit and who prepared the report, told the Blade in an email that he reached out to Kohler after seeing a Facebook posting by Kohler describing the incident.
In his posting, Kohler said two of the four men who attacked him wore hats bearing the slogan, “Make America Great Again.” The slogan was used as the theme of President Donald Trump’s election campaign.
In response to a request by the Blade, D.C. police spokesperson Aquita Brown released a description of the appearance of the suspects that was not included in the publicly released police report. Brown said all four of the suspects were white males.
All four suspects were 20-30 years old, and ranged in height from about 5 feet 10 inches to about 6 feet tall, she said. “Two of them were wearing red hats,” Brown said in an email.
The police report prepared by Parson lists the incident as an aggravated assault, which is classified under D.C. law as a felony with a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and/or a prison term of up to 10 years.
Kohler didn’t immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking to speak with him.
He made it clear in his Facebook posting that the hats worn by two of the suspects who attacked him bore the “Make America Great Again” slogan from the Trump campaign.
“I share this with you because I have grown so tired of hearing just how perfect and great Trump supporters are and have been,” he stated in his posting. “That they are above anything like what happened to us,” he stated in referring to him and his dog Pepper. “They aren’t.”
Police spokesperson Brown said the investigation into the assault against Kohler is continuing. Anyone who has information about the case should call police at 202-727-9099 or submit information to the police TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 450411.
Let’s hope these four men are brought to justice.
