“At 3:30 a.m. on Monday, September 5th, an openly gay man was robbed, sexually assaulted and called hateful anti-gay slurs as he returned to his home in Brooklyn.

“I’m disgusted and horrified to hear about this incident. Hate crimes hurt everyone, and any act of violence against one member of the LGBT community is an act of violence against us all.
Too often we hear about acts of violence committed against LGBT people in our city. We must put an end to the intolerance that breeds this hatred.

“New York City prides itself on diversity and acceptance of all its residents and this act goes against the very fiber of what our city stands for.

“Council Member Albert Vann and I have been in touch with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, and they are aggressively pursuing leads in order to capture the assailants. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and his family. We are confident the perpetrator of this heinous crime will be caught and brought to justice.

“I urge anyone with information on this incident to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.”
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