Orlando Police Release Video Of Man Being Beaten By Mob Because Of His Sexual Orientation
Orlando police released a video Friday showing a mob of juveniles beating a man because of his sexual orientation, WKMG (Orlando) is reporting.
The 32-year-old victim was assaulted on March 26, but Orlando police only made the video of the assault public this week.
Police say the victim was walking down the street when a mob approached him and started punching, kicking, and throwing chairs at him. They also stole his pants, wallet, and cell phone. He was not seriously injured.
JoAnn Blarr, who knows both the victim and his assailants, says he was assaulted because of his sexual orientation.
“It was just a whole lot of chaos, it was crazy. I know they shouldn’t be going around putting their hands on people because of their sexual preference.”
The details of what prompted the mob to attack the man based on his sexual orientation are not clear. WFTV (Duluth) reports that the victim, who has asked not to be named, believed that his assault stemmed from a dispute that didn’t involve him in any way, and that his assailants then chose to take out their anger on anyone who happened to be gay.
Orlando police have arrested two brothers — Deandre and Dennis Florence, aged 14 and 16 — in connection with the assault.
Great Detective work by/Robbery identifying these brothers in the video. No More Violence. We do not tolerate hate pic.twitter.com/MxN4y3f0Jz
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) April 3, 2015
Police are still hoping that members of the public will come forward to help identify any other members of the mob responsible for assaulting the man because of his sexual orientation.
[Image courtesy of: Shutterstock/Tony Bowler]
