A Jamaican man who currently resides in the United States is claiming that he was beaten by a group of people during a concert in The Bahamas over the weekend because he is gay. The man, identified as Adrian Brown, a navy officer told The Bahamas media in an interview, minutes after leaving the hospital where he was treated for a laceration to his head, that he wants the people involved to be charged with a hate crime.
He said that he will be pursuing the case when he returns to the US and he also plans on suing for medical bills and pain and suffering.
The 24-year-old, who went to The Bahamas to participate in Junkanoo Carnival, said he was attacked while dancing at the concert late Friday into early Saturday when someone threw water on him. He said when he asked why was water thrown on him, one of the men who attacked him said it was “because you a batty man”.
“So before anything could happen his girlfriend came up in my face and slapped me and then four people just jumped me,” Brown alleged. “Two girls and two guys, then two Bahamian men jumped in and started helping me. There was no conversation, they just started fighting me. I am not a fighter, I came here to the Bahamas to have fun, party and go back home,” Brown added.
“I don’t know these people from Adam and they do not know me, and they were hitting me and beating me in my head with a rock. He just said ‘you are a batty man’ and they all jumped me. After the incident the other two guys that helped me held one of the guys until the police came.”
Brown said at the time he was wearing a cut-out shirt and fitted pants, adding that “I think they assumed because the way I was dressed that I was gay and I am gay, but I don’t know anyone here so they would not have known that. This was a hate crime.
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