Gay teen couple senselessly attacked by thugs after hugging in the street
A gay teen couple were the victims of a hate crime in Utah. (Credit: Rainbow Youth Project/Twitter)
A gay teen couple were senselessly pushed and punched after they they were seen hugging in a quiet suburban street in Sandy, Utah.
On a quiet Saturday evening (30 July) Christian Peacock and his boyfriend Jacob Metcalf were embracing one another saying their goodbyes when a black sedan with five occupants slowed down, revved the engine while a thug shouted: “F**k you, f****ts.”
The car disappeared down the road before returning and screeching to a halt, Peacock told The Salt Lake Tribune. Two men got out of the car and told the young couple: “We don’t like seeing gay people on our street.”
One of the men began taunting them by taking his shirt off and asked the two teenage boys. “Do we turn you on?” he asked as he flexed his muscles, as per The Salt Lake Tribune. The three who remained in the car let out raucous laughter.
The shirtless man then pushed Metcalf and he retaliated. Peacock jumped in front of his boyfriend and told the homophobic thug to leave them alone and that the shirtless man was probably “repressed” hence why he was “acting this way”.
“You’re probably also gay and acting out because of it,” Peacock shouted at him.
This set the perpetrator off and he punched Peacock left side of his head so hard that he’s still got teeth marks indented inside his cheek from the impact.
Peacock was left with a concussion and brain swelling and was checked into the emergency room.
Metcalf pulled out his phone after Peacock was punched to capture evidence. In the footage, the attacker yells at them: “Get out of here! Get the f**k out of here … What the f**k is wrong with you people? You’re are f**king disgusting!”
?? Sandy, UT – A gay young man was hugging his boyfriend in front of his home. The young men in this Infiniti stopped and the one person punched the kid in the face while calling him a “fa**ot.” We need to identify this assailant. Contact Sandy, UT police. ⚠️Language⚠️ pic.twitter.com/801SYBoBUt
— Rainbow Youth Project USA (@RainbowYouthUSA) July 30, 2022
Sandy police found the perpetrator and took him into custody. The assailant hasn’t been charged, but he faces a possible class A misdemeanour for simple assault, enhanced by a hate crime.
If charged, Peacock’s assault would be a test of Utah’s new hate crime law which heightens any criminal charge to hate crime status if there is evidence that it was motivated by another person’s ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
It means a class B misdemeanour for simple assault, like in Peacock’s case, is raised one offence level higher. For example, to a class A misdemeanour. A second-degree felony would become a first-degree felony, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
