Boston police are investigating an alleged hate crime after a gay man was struck in the head with a baseball bat when he and his partner were attacked during a confrontation with a group of men earlier this month.
The violence unfolded around 7:45 p.m. on September 13 on River Street in the Mattapan neighborhood , according to a Boston Police Department incident report obtained by The Boston Globe. No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing, a police spokesperson said.
“Hate is never tolerated in Boston,” a city spokesperson said Saturday in a statement. “Our thoughts go out to the two victims, and we ask anyone with information to contact Boston Police. The BPD Civil Rights Division is investigating this incident thoroughly.”
Police said the couple was walking toward a liquor store on River Street when a group of men allegedly hurled anti-gay slurs at them.
A witness told The Globe that some of the remarks were made in Haitian Creole.
“It was not right,” said the man, who declined to give his name because he feared retaliation. “I was mad.”
The report said one of the victims confronted the group and “a verbal dispute began,” which escalated into a fight spilling onto the street.
Two of the men in the group “were seen swinging unidentifiable objects at the victims,” and the group allegedly split up to attack both members of the couple.
Officers responding to the scene found one of the men lying in a River Street parking lot, bleeding from the back of his head. He told police he had been struck with a baseball bat.
He was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for further evaluation. His current condition was not provided in the report.
Police said the second victim was attacked by other members of the group. He was taken to a police station in Mattapan, where he was interviewed by detectives. Both of the victims’ names were redacted from the report.
A security camera captured portions of the confrontation. In footage viewed by The Globe, a crowd of people could be seen crossing River Street and advancing on a smaller group in front of the Mattapan Center for Life, a residence for older adults.
The footage showed a man dressed in white backpedaling and waving a tennis racket as the crowd moved toward him. The video then showed several people chasing him into the entrance of a parking lot, where he was kicked while on the ground. He eventually broke free and walked away.
A neighborhood resident told The Globe that a nearby commercial building has become an outdoor gathering place where people drink and sell drugs at all hours.
“It shouldn’t happen here,” said the man, who asked that his name be withheld because he fears for his safety. “We pay taxes like everybody else and we deserve to have a safe community.”
The building houses several businesses, including a barbershop, clothing store, and gift shop. On Saturday, all of the storefronts were shuttered with metal gates and a resident said the shops have been closed since Wednesday.
