D.C. police release photos of suspects in anti-gay attack at 14th & U
D.C. police on Nov. 5 released photos of seven suspects linked to the Oct. 27 assault of a 22-year-old gay man at the McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W.
that a police report lists as a suspected hate crime. The police report says the victim, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, told police as many as 15 people, mostly men and some women, punched him repeatedly in the face and body, with some yelling the word “faggot,” after one of the women criticized him for not saying “excuse me” when he walked past her. “Thomas was attacked by a mob who used hateful, derogatory language targeting his identity as a gay man,” Lascarro’s husband, Stuart West, said and who noted that Lascarro goes by his middle name Thomas. “This horrific hate crime left him hospitalized overnight, facing serious physical injuries and emotional trauma,” West said.
In a No. 5 statement, D.C. police said the photos of the suspects were obtained from nearby surveillance cameras. D.C. police chief Pamela Smith told the Washington Blade police investigators were working with McDonald’s officials to obtain the video recordings from security cameras inside and outside the MacDonald’s. “Anyone who can identify these suspects or who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099,” the police statement says.
The statement adds that police are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime in D.C., including the crime targeting Lascarro.
