Early Sunday morning, a Florida man was murdered after he came to the defense of his gay friends. He’d been dining with his friends before a drunk homophobe followed them out of the restaurant and onto the street to harass them.
The suspect, Nelson Hernandez Mena (above), reportedly became angry after one of the victim’s gay friends asked for the phone number of a man Mena was eating with.
Multiple witnesses said that Mena aggressively came after the group, shouting, “If we were in my country I’d kill all of you like rats. I hate you damned gays. I’m going to kill you all here.”
The 22-year-old victim, Juan Javier Cruz, tried to defuse the situation but was shot and killed after Mena produced a handgun from his pocket.
Police report that Mena told them he’d drank roughly 15-20 beers that day, and that he was “very drunk.” He also said he didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
The Palm Beach Post adds:
Cruz and Mena were both with groups of friends eating and drinking inside Las Flores before the shooting, according to the PBSO report.
Mena was denied bond Monday morning by Judge Dina Keever-Agrama. The family of Cruz appeared in court with the hopes that the judge would “do the right thing,” and send Mena to jail, Cruz’s cousin Brenda Carballo said.
Mena now faces first degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm charges.
Kieran
It’s obviously President Trump’s fault. Not sure how, but some libtard will think of something.
Alexis
Only Kieran can turn this into a pointless political issue, without thinking about the victim…great going mate and for being a lousy human being
Smith David
Wow! are you that starved for attention? I wish upon you a week of endless diarrhea sir:(
jckfmsincty
You are sad and pathetic.
Brody
It’s Trump’s fault because he’s a hetero monster who’s fostered an atmosphere of hate and bigotry that threatens the civil liberties of all gay men who want to brazenly hit on straight men in public arenas.
(and I hope you’re proud of me for keeping a straight face while typing that, K-man)
CaliKyle
Kieran. That’s irish for twat.
Navalator
Kieran is seriously intellectually challenged, profoundly ignorant and grossly mean spirited.
jeff1370
Brody……So they should be killed?? idiot!!
Zeke_Krahlin
If you’re not sure how this was Trump’s fault, then you’re either dumb as a pile of shit, or a very hateful person. Diarrhea pours forth from your mouth, like a gushing fountain.
FnameLname
All you really have to do is use the word “libtard”- that tells the rest of us all we need to know about your level of intelligence and your willingness to follow the masses without using fact, logic or compassion.
Kieran
Countdown to the obligatory post accusing Mena himself of being gay……..4, 3, 2, 1
Kenney G
don’t worry about it caitlyn Jenner
ProfessorMoriarty
Kieran, bubula. Go, play in traffic. Please.
Kangol
Get psychological help. You need it.
KMF11
can u please get a life…
its pathetic that this is how u spend ur time. (trolling people)
FnameLname
Well let’s see – KILLING another human being when confronted with a few gay men doesn’t just happen because he misses Liberace – he misses Judy Garland too….he’s one of them self hating queers and you don’t need a ride on the Mystery Machine to solve that mystery.
SeandeeTD
What is broken with you thst lashing out is your first reaction?
Paco
It’s still not safe for gay men to hit on random guys without the possibility of getting attacked.
We still need our safe spaces to meet others without violence.
Mack
The guy will probably get of with manslaughter and serve minimal time.
Chris
I’m putting my money on a “stand your ground” defense in which the drunken sot “believed” he was in danger. Only in Florida.
ProfessorMoriarty
Disgusting. And sadly, probably what’s gonna happen. >:(
sydboy007
Mena is a POC so it’ll be interesting to see how the progressives treat him. He did kill another POC but since progressives ignore the high black on black violence and death toll they may not see it as important.
Billy Budd
Now they are also killing the gay friendly people. You cant even befriend us in safety.
Prax07
@Brody One of the guys did hit on a guy at the killers table…
stevetalbert
Are you saying that is justification for murder??!! Do you also blame women who get raped for wearing the “wrong” outfit or being atvthe wrong place at wrong time? Do you blame babies who get murdered for crying??!! Or did you mean to type that he hit someone at the table?
FnameLname
Wow, so according to your logic whenever a guy asks a female for her number she automatically has the right to kill one of her friends. How wonderful.
Stache
I hope this case gets monitored. The monster should never see the outside of a prison again.
Stache
Oh and I’m sure he didn’t go out intending to kill someone. However, he sure as hell did when he pulled out his gun.
Terrycloth
Oh sure..he didn’t hurt anybody..the gun did…here we go…
Bob LaBlah
If you go over on Towelroad there is a picture of the victim. Cute kid too.
Stache
Thanks. I love his conflicted story. Cruz wasn’t his intended target. He didn’t mean to kill anyone. Yeah, so much for this dumb ass immigrants defense.
Zeke_Krahlin
That’s towleroad, not towelroad. And why not post the link in your comment?
http://www.towleroad.com/2017/08/gay-murder-2/
Xzamilloh
Of course it’s Florida… right up there with Arizona when it comes to a collection of cesspool individuals. That poor kid. Talking about “If we were in my country…” as if that were something to be proud of.
sydboy007
Blatant racism. All cultures are equal and equally beautiful. What right do you have to criticise someone from a cultures that is overtly homophobic.
Diversity and inclusivity
Xzamilloh
I’m so sorry…. I’ll do better to see the beauty and diversity of unabashed homophobia from unapologetically ignorant people of other cultures. How closed minded of me.
Heywood Jablowme
“If we were in my country I’d kill all of you like rats. I hate you damned gays. I’m going to kill you all here.”
Yes, I suppose it would have been helpful for the article to mention exactly which barbaric third-world sh*thole he came from. So we can avoid that place!
Stache
Mexico because of the gang violence or Brazil where they lead the world in LGBT violence.
Stache
Ha. I was wrong on all counts but probably even worse. The POS comes from Honduras.
cancorv
How very very sad. How many lives are wrecked in a single incident like this, including the murderer’s? I bet even he now wished he lived in a country where the likes of him were not allowed to carry guns. Condolences to all.
Danny595
It’s odd that a whole group of gay men needed 1 hetero dude to defend them? Why weren’t they defending themselves?
dinard38
I’m pretty darn sure the gay men didn’t NEED Cruz to defend them. But being a good friend, he probably took it upon himself to step in and defend his friends against this jerk. And you’re missing the point, which was that this jerk shot and killed a person because of his homophobia. If one of these gay men had confronted him instead of Cruz, they most likely would have been the one shot and killed.
FnameLname
What are you getting on about? They didn’t NEED anyone to defend them. They were defending themselves just fine which is why their friend intervened because he didn’t want anyone to be harmed. When someone threatens your friends life do you just sit back and see how it turns out? Oh YOU probably do. Most friends have each other’s backs…that’s what friendship is….
Daniel-Reader
Since he’s not an American (no, American says “if we were in my country” since they’d already be there) that means he is either a visitor who got a gun or an illegal who got a gun so they need to deport him and his family after he serves whatever sentence is issued. Feel sorry for victim’s family and friends.
Woody
Another example of why we need gun control.
Brody
Riiiiight, because criminals like Mena are the first to obey laws.
And because experiments in gun control like Chicago have gone so well (2256 shot this year so far, 415 dead).
money718
Is that what you got out of that article??? Sheesh
Clay83
This is why proper gun control needs to be introduced. I know the UK isnt perfect, but at least we dont need to worry about every lunatic having a gun. RIP Juan
Brody
And what, exactly, is “proper” gun control?
(for the effectiveness of such laws, see my above comment to Woody)
Xzamilloh
No, just machetes, bombs and trucks… much better.
I happen to agree with gun control, in principle, but 1. It is far too late to enforce any kind of meaningful reform, and 2. Legal gun ownership isn’t the problem because people will always be able to get their hands on guns…. so all this does is make it harder for people to obtain guns legally, it doesn’t remove the problem of gun violence.
Ummmm Yeah
“If we were in my country I’d kill all of you like rats. I hate you damned gays. I’m going to kill you all here.”
And that right there is why you stop letting third worlders flood into the civilized nations of the world.
FnameLname
Yea because people that were born here never use guns and slaughter innocent people. This is not an issue of citizenship and the fact that people fell for that whole line of crap is amusing. Oh hey don’t look at the man behind the curtain and pay attention to what he’s really doing..instead focus on those nasty illegals and how they are ruining our society (even though you never raised an eyebrow in the past).
startenout
I love that this story became yet another chance for people to spew ignorance and hatred based on someone’s skin color and country of origin. We really are gaining equality to heterosexual Americans: trash.
My prayers go out to the victim, his friends and family. You don’t have to be gay to be a victim of a hate crime since this ally was standing up with his friends.