Joe.My.God. LGBT News
From the Detroit Free Press:
A viral video of a man shouting slurs and pointing a gun at another man he believed was gay as he exited a convenience store on Detroit’s west side has sparked outrage and is being investigated by police, an official confirmed Wednesday.
“We are aware of it,” said Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody. “It was sent to us and we have opened up an investigation on behalf of the victim, although the victim did not come forward. We are investigating it. Obviously, it’s very troubling that anyone would feel comfortable enough to point a weapon at anyone and post it on social media for everyone to see and attacking and singling out a person … regardless of how they identify is outrageous.”
The 32-second video was initially posted at 8:16 p.m. Tuesday and shows a man sitting in a car at the Brightmoor Liquor store, at 22002 Lyndon St., uttering gay slurs. When the second man walks out of the convenience store, the man in the car shouts “Yo” at him to get his attention. The man ignores him initially, but as he passes the window of the car, the man in the car points a gun at him at the 22-second mark of the video while saying, “Take those pants off, bro. What the f–k you on?”
From Detroit’s Fox affiliate:
Not only did the man post this disturbing video on social media, the suspect then followed up with Periscope videos where he taunts police and justifies his homophobic actions.
“Give me my props, (expletive) these gay ass (n-words),” he said. “I wasn’t telling the (n-word) to take his pants off right then and there because if he would, he would have been shot. I don’t like looking at that (expletive) I don’t like gay ass (n-words) or none of that.”
All of this just 24 hours after the Fair Michigan Justice Project launched a new task force to investigate and prosecute crimes against the LGBT community.
In a statement Fair President Dana Nessel said: “This video is a tragic reminder of the fear and intimidation LGBT people in our community live with, on a daily basis. It is the reason the Fair Michigan Justice Project was initiated and it perfectly illustrates the importance of building a coalition between law enforcement and the LGBT community.”
Video: Detroiter points gun at ‘gay’ man, challenges police to arrest him https://t.co/4d3nLuy592 #detroit pic.twitter.com/WtTBXwBEqB
— Detroit News Now (@detroitnewsnow) July 14, 2016