2 Men Attacked in Suspected Hate Crime that Referenced Monkeypox: Police

2 Men Attacked in Suspected Hate Crime that Referenced Monkeypox: Police

According to a police report, two men were struck by assailants who used a homophobic slur and made references to monkeypox. Police in Washington, D.C. are now looking into a possible hate crime.

A public incident report from the Metropolitan Police Department states that the event happened on Sunday afternoon in Northwest Washington, D.C.

According to the allegation, the suspects approached the two guys while they were strolling down Seventh Street NW and referred to them as “monkeypox f——s.” According to the complaint, the suspects “punched them multiple times” before escaping. According to authorities, one of the victim’s sunglasses was harmed in the assault.

The D.C. LGBTQ weekly Metro Weekly broke the initial news of the assault. According to Metro Weekly, the victims, a gay couple, were taken by police to the hospital after the assault.

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., expressed her “deep distress” about the reported hate crime.

She stated in a statement on Tuesday that “we must stand up for our friends and neighbours, especially right now when there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol sweeping our nation.” In particular at this time, when many are using public health to stigmatise and discriminate against members of the LGBTQ+ community, “we must call out the people in our communities if they propagate cruel or foolish thinking.”

According to the mayor, the LGBT Liaison Unit of the police department is investigating.

 

The current monkeypox outbreak was last week deemed a public health emergency in the United States by the Biden administration.

Males who have sex with other men, which includes those who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary, have been the subject of the majority of incidents documented so far in the United States. Health experts have, however, emphasised numerous times that anyone can catch the illness.

Concern about the disease’s stigma has come from LGBTQ activists who report an increase in online homophobic or transphobic remarks concerning monkeypox.

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