CRIME WAVE

Chilean Teen Loses Leg To Machete-Wielding Gang In Anti-Gay Attack

Esteban_Navarro_Foot_Leg_Machete_ChileOne Florida man is lucky to have his leg intact after being shot with a BB gun at a Pride event last week, but the outlook is grim for a Chilean teen who will lose his entire leg to amputation after being attacked by a machete-wielding gang just one week later.

Gay Star News reports that 19-year-old Esteban Navarro is struggling to stay alive after the attack that claimed his foot on June 23. The teen was allegedly targeted by a group of six men “holding knives, iron bars and machetes” and beaten while being called a “maricon,” or “faggot.”

Though the group didn’t directly dismember Navarro, his foot was immediately amputated upon arrival at the hospital, and he’ll undergo an additional 15-day surgery to amputate his entire leg in order to stay alive.

What is perhaps the most frustrating detail of the incident, according to openly gay Chilean LGBT activist Oscar Rementeria, is the silence of Chile’s police force. “A young man has lost his leg, and last May a trans girl lost an eye,” he said. “All the authorities have kept their silence on these two cases, which is reprehensible.”

A spokesperson for the Navarro family has also criticized police, telling local media outlets that “Esteban’s life has changed dramatically,” and “we hope the courts will punish those responsible with the full extent of the law.”

So far, no arrests have been made.

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