An unidentified bearded man beat a gay couple with a wooden chair after a heated argument in a Manhattan barbeque restaurant.
Video of the incident taken by a fellow customer shows the man arguing with Jonathan Snipes, 32, and his boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, 25, before turning violent Tuesday night.
Snipes had a tooth knocked loose, bruised his head and had cartilage in his ear snapped as a result of the attack in New York’ City’s Chelsea neighborhood, which is known for having a large gay community.
‘These guys attacked us specifically because they knew we weren’t their type of people,’ he said.
He told DNA Info that he and York-Adams had gone to Dallas BBQ to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with margaritas.
Snipes received a text message around 11pm about a death in the family and had to leave quickly, but accidentally knocked over another table’s drink on his way out and was insulted.
‘White f—-ts, spilling drinks,’ one of the other customers allegedly said.
Snipes said that when he confronted the table about the remarks, the altercation soon became physical.
A large bald man is seen on the video punching Snipes to the ground and kicks him at least once as insults continue and others in the restaurant urge everyone to calm down.
‘Stop, stop stop,’ someone is heard screaming.
A worker is seen trying to restore peace before the gay couple is brutally attacked with a chair.
Snipes recovers and is standing with York-Adams when the large bald, bearded man smacks them with the wooden seat and then quickly leaves.
Take that, f—-t,’ then man reportedly yelled.
York-Adams was knocked to the ground by the hit, which left Snipes dazed in a nearby chair.
One of the men received injuries to his head his swelling and a cut, an NYPD spokesman told.
Snipes said he did not go to the hospital because he is recently unemployed and does not have insurance.
‘They hit us hard and then they wouldn’t stop. I was hobbling away and they came and attacked us again,’ he said.
It is unclear exactly how many people were involved in the altercation.
An NYPD spokesman said Wednesday afternoon that the incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Snipes said it is not the first time he has faced anti-gay taunts in the past.
‘Growing up gay in Alabama, this is not my first time at that rodeo,’ he said
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