Three gay men “hunted” by gang with knives in Phoenix Park
Three gay men were allegedly “hunted” by a gang with knives in Phoenix Park on Monday, June 17. One of the victims spoke to GCN about the incident, which was also raised before the Seanad.According to the man who was targeted, he and his friends went to the popular Dublin park for a “peaceful walk” on Monday evening, when they were approached by a car full of people pretending to be Gardaí. “Of course, we did think they were, so we hesitated and stopped walking,” he told GCN. “We then quickly realised they were not police as there were at least six men in the car.”As he and his friends walked away, the group “started to get more malicious”, so they started walking fast and then running towards the nearest exit.“As I ran, I heard the men scream slurs; they had begun to say which one of us they were gonna get,” the victim recalled.“They also were telling one another to ‘get the shank and throw the bottle’.
They had all literally jumped out of their car and left the car running with all doors swinging open so I believe they were really serious about what they were gonna do to us.”The gang reportedly got back in the car and blocked the exit that the three men were rushing towards. “They were waiting with flashlights to see us, the only option we had was to jump in a bush full of nettles and hide until they left.”A similar situation occurred when they tried to leave through another exit.“This all went on for just over an hour because every way we tried to go they were there.
