Man went on ‘homophobic rant’ inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags
The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a “homophobic rant” inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month. “Last night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. “He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the posting continues. “Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,” the message says. “We want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response.
We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” the statement concludes.
Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being “drunk in public” and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer.
A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
