A man produced a knife and hurled homophobic slurs during a robbery in New York City – but he was subsequently wrestled to the ground by the gay couple he attacked.
Ricky Bellevue and Trevel Parrish approached gay couple Kelson Akomolafe and Edward Hoard and started shouting homophobic abuse at them last Tuesday (July 7), the New York Daily News reports.
Bellevue allegedly called the couple “f**king faggots” and told them to “go back to your country”. He then pulled out a red-handled knife and insisted that they hand over their belongings.
The couple tried to ignore their attackers, but they persisted.
The robber shouted homophobic abuse at the gay couple before pulling out a knife in the New York attack.
“Now I’m going to rob you two faggots!” Bellevue shouted before attacking the men. The assailant proceeded to attack Akomolafe, and Parrish approached them from behind with a long silver blade.
“I heard him saying ‘grab the bag, grab the bag,’” Hoard said, referring to a Louis Vuitton bag Akomolafe was carrying.
This is why I came to America, where I can express myself and my sexuality, and show who I am when I walk down the street.
Bellevue tried to steal the bag, but Akomolafe was not going to let go of it that easily. He started to struggle with his attacker, and sustained injuries to his face and hand in the process.
Incredibly, the gay couple managed to fight off their attackers – and by the time five police officers arrived on the scene, they were restrained.
The men managed to restrain the robbers, but one of them was subsequently arrested.
However, their struggle didn’t end there – police arrested Akomolafe too.
“I was detained for the first time in my life. I was just lucky not to be shedding tears. After all of this, how can I have handcuffs on my hands? The procedure was overwhelming.”
He was later released, but the couple had to spend hours answering questions from police.
They are still reeling from the horrific incident and are shocked that they were targeted for their sexuality by the robbers.
“This is why I came to America, where I can express myself and my sexuality, and show who I am when I walk down the street,” Akomolafe said.
“Nobody, not even in my home country (Nigeria), has ever walked up to me and said that,” he added.