The NYPD is currently looking for a man suspected of beating a gay couple over the head with a chair and kicking them in a BBQ restaurant in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. They’ve released images and footage of the man in the hopes that someone will recognize him.
The victims, Jonathan Snipes, 32, and his boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, 25, were eating and rushed to step outside after Snipes got a text saying there was a death in the family. He accidentally spilled a drink, and says the suspect called them “white faggots.”
Snipes confronted him, and all hell broke loose.
There’s at least one claim out there that the suspect himself is gay, casting into question whether or not the incident was based on sexual orientation. Either way, you don’t hit a guy across the head with a chair and then run out of the building.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Though not initially reported, the NYPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Here’s the video of the suspect:
heckles202
It isn’t very smart of that blogger to admit that he is withholding the name of the assailant from the police. Couldn’t he be charged with obstructing justice?
Maude
I hope they catch him, and have him do the ‘perp-walk’ so that all can see who and what he is…….A no-good rotten shit-head with a self loathing attitude.
And lets have a live telecast of his trial.
Realitycheck
@heckles202: He is not really withholding the names
on Facebook he even listed the Facebook pages that belong to the assailant and the other man
you see in the Dallas BBQ video surveillance camera.
Keep in mind until the police reveals the names it is all alleged.
Realitycheck
@Realitycheck: I am sorry the blogger is not the one that released the guy page on Facebook.
How ever in both instances there are wide claims of R-ism, in spite of the chair smashing and the kicking in
the face while the white guy was down on the floor.
Both accident are referred to in the blog as self defense, totally ridiculous, no matter what caused the fight.
David Barenz
Asshole
Kieran
He’s toast. He better call Al Sharpton to turn himself in.
MarionPaige
If you live in New York, you know that there are multiple races of people who can look like that photo of the suspect. What is it exactly that is establishing that this person is Black (other than his claimed used of White F-g)?
I find it hard to believe that a Gay White Guy in NYC would have the balls to confront any man over anything unless he had his trusty iphone on record. There is a reference to Snipes receiving an emergency text, but no references to whether or not Snipes’ smartphone recorded the entire confrontation.
James Hart
This man probably voted for Barack Obama. I wonder why he doesn’t buy into liberal values.
Xzamilio
Good… it’s fucking frustrating reading JoeMyGod’s linking of that black blogger defending this nonsense… you can’t deny the racism in certain subsets of the gay community, but you don’t defend stupidity like this, regardless of who initiated it… you let that dude be wrong and leave it at that, but now he’s fucked himself over even more by escalating it like that:
http://shallowvoices.blogspot.com/2015/05/short-rant-this-is-hate-crime.html
I’m glad they are charging it as a hate crime…
Xzamilio
@Kieran: You know what? You can retire that old ass joke about Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson because the black community has been aware of those race-baiting opportunists for the longest time. If it’s one thing I can’t stand it’s idiots in my community who try to make it a race issue when it isn’t one, because it gives jackasses like you who openly dismiss REAL racism the out you need to claim it’s a made up narrative to go after “whitey”
UltimateSin
@Xzamilio: Thanks for your reply to his more than exhausted joke.
Danny Ray
Get this fool!
Realitycheck
@MarionPaige: I think you can pretty much see that from both video.
@Xzamilio:
Glad to hear that, because at time I really wonder, how many black guys are out there exploiting the black
community, and sadly this is done both on actual r-sm toward blacks that causes suffering,
and by taking advantage of those black that are r-ist, either way they make money out of it.
charmin88
I just waiting for the full story because I hate to say it, but it’s not sounding like a hate crime. Especially because the white guy got in his face first. The jerks were just being rude, but just because someone says something nasty out loud towards you doesn’t give you the right to get in someone’s face. They should of ignored them. Or found somewhere else where people actually have brain cells.
Mikkel Hyldebrandt
Hope they find him so he can be held accountable and get some help for his anger issues!! What a douche
jason smeds
Afro-Americans can be just as bigoted as whites. I get so annoyed with bigoted Afro-Americans in particular as they really should know better.
When an Afro-American man is unjustly attacked by a white man, the liberal media creates a storm. When a white, gay man is unjustly attacked by an Afro-American man, the media’s silence is deafening.
The liberal media really needs to stop demonstrating its appalling double standards on this issue. If it doesn’t, it will find that gay men will turn against liberalism.
enfilmigult
‘…the word ‘faggot,’ according to Houston, seemed to be a response to Snipes’ arrogance after knowing that he bumped the Black men’s table and knocking their drinks rather than homophobia.” Ooookay, well that clears that up I guess. The fuck is that even supposed to mean?
tdh1980
@jason smeds: Please cease and desist with this false narrative you’re trying to peddle as any type of truth. It is documented fact that black people who attack or kill white people — regardless of their sexual orientation — rarely, if ever, escape punitive measures as administered by the law, in addition to being punished more severely for those actions than if the roles were reversed. There is no need to march for justice when its wheels turn pretty consistently in your favor. A black male teenager minding his business while walking home from a convenience store gets accosted by a self-appointed community watch leader and consequently winds up dead, and it takes a social-media push lasting weeks for charges to be filed. And that’s only one very recent example. Snipes’s account of that night’s events is taken as gospel truth, while bigoted fools across the country wondered what Trayvon Martin “did” to force George Zimmerman to *have* to kill him.
Argue whatever bigoted point you want, but don’t be intellectually dishonest.
Steven Shelton
Asshole , i hope they get this fool
jason smeds
Don’t deny the existence of bigotry in Afro-Americans. Their view on gay rights isn’t entirely welcoming. Individually, Afro-Americans can be very fair and gay-friendly but the culture as a whole is dominated by the white Christian church influence, an influence which came to the fore during the slave years.
Afro-Americans embraced the white Christian influence during the slave years – don’t deny it.
As for this incident in Chelsea, surely they have a good enough image to catch the culprit and put him in jail.
DarkZephyr
@Xzamilio: You know, your clarity and sensibility is really starting to be very sexy to me.
Cagnazzo82
If this guy is popular in the ballroom scene, how in the world is the police having a hard time catching up with him?
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
This asshole needs to charged. Prison time hopefully.
Realitycheck
@Cagnazzo82: they probably already got all the information they need,
as I stated earlier I called the police Tips line to report the statement on the advocate web site and the 3 Facebook
links pointing to the assailant, and queerty has provided adtional links to a blog.
The police is simply placing all the information together and finding out the real names
of the people posting on line that claim to know, IPs are very easy to track and Internet
providers will be supina to disclose account holders.
Realitycheck
@tdh1980: the amount of R-ism I have seen on this matter from the black community is
simply staggering, nobody wants to even look at how violent the attacker was, no, the white F-g got what he deserved and
the poor black man as always has become victim of r-ism, wait a moment!!! What about smashing a chair on the guy’s head,
after he kick them in the mouth when they were down, on the floor.
And why? Because by accident the white guy kicked their drinks? Do you realize how insane that is? And while African
Americans claim the assailant was defending himself, it was the assailant that started the fight by calling the white guys F- gots.
As long as blacks keep behaving like this, blacks will be looked down from the rest of the world, be honest and say the
guy behavior was completely unacceptable! He was violent, and could have killed the guys when he hit them on the head
with a chair.
Then you get respect, but when I read blogs and Facebook posts, about the evil white man getting what he deserved
from black guy, you guys are the real r-ist.
And there is nothing you can say and do to change that, because, the chair is the chair, it’s the chair, it’s the chair.
Cagnazzo82
@Realitycheck: For the love of God, will you stop reading one black dude’s post and equate it to having read all black people’s opinions on the face of this spinning planet earth.
I’m black, and I don’t speak for 1 billion+ black people. Nor do I answer for black gay bashers, or any gay bashers in general. And I look forward to this man getting caught and answering for his buffoonery.
I hold the same position with this incident as I did with the preppy nutjobs over in Philly that bashed a couple outside a bar.
These are positions that are not defined by race. Get a clue and get over the nonsense.
Blackceo
@Realitycheck:
“As long as blacks keep behaving like this, blacks will be looked down from the rest of
the world”
Please don’t lump as all into the same category. You sound ignorant as shit. We don’t think that just because the white men who tied James Byrd to a pickup truck and dragged him to death that all white men are like that.
Saint Law
America: where one black man commits a crime and the whole black community is on trial.
Saint Law
@Realitycheck: And what is it with your formatting? It makes you seem demented.
I mean more demented.
heckles202
@Blackceo: What’s sad is that a black blogger said this is to be expected from Dallas BBQ restaurants. Who are the majority patrons of these restaurants? Black people!
martinbakman
He def looks like he would zuk a mean deek.
BigG
I was attacked when i was 21. I fought back and won. Now in my late thirties, when i do go out i always “pack” something because you never know about people. As gay men we are a target of hate. Better safe than sorry And better to be prepared. That guy would have been very sorry if he attacked me .
BigG
Hope they catch that piece of crap and make him pay
junk4sts
All of the people involved should probably learn a lesson from this, the guy who started the whole thing by spilling the drinks should have been more careful, he was in a public place and needs to be more conscience of his surroundings, it’s very likely that had he quickly apologized for hitting the table and knocking over the drinks, the attack would have never happened. No one likes being disrespected, and the drink spiller was being disrespectful, then followed it up with a healthy dose of gay attitude. The two chair swinging face kicking guys will likely face legal action including fines and maybe some jail time once they are identified, and if they are some race other than white, they should know better than to throw around hateful terms when they are angry. They could have just as easily called the drink spiller a “stupid shithead” or a “Dumb fucker” which although just as harsh, can easily apply to anyone.
I will say that unless you know about gay things, it probably isn’t obvious that the word “fa**ot” is deemed a truly offensive word in the gay community, and just as the black community uses the n-word to when referring to the black community and people, many in the gay community use the f-word when referring to themselves and the community.
The problem is, even if they do bring the bashers to justice, it does not undo what was done, and the damage could have been much worse, all of us need to learn to take the high road when dealing with each other in public.
I’m not saying I believe this, but it’s possible that the basher feared that he was going to be attacked by the mouthy drink spiller – so he can say that “he felt threatened” Which is essentially a valid excuse for certain violent behaviors – It’s the basis of the excuse that cops use to justify killing unarmed people, and along with stand your ground laws was the basis for the acquittal in the Travon Martin murder case.
Realitycheck
@Cagnazzo82:
Glad to hear that and thank you, and while it might sound the opposite I assure
you I do not lump together an entire community.
But I had to comment on what I see on the net, and it simply maddening
to see some people take a position of hate and twist the facts to a point
of blindness.
@Saint Law:
May be, because It would be nice to hear many black
people attacking that kind of violent behavior. Or may be you didn’t
read what I have read on facebook.
To actually see the vitriol thrown by some gay black man toward gay white
guys is extremely disappointing, what does it say about our gay community?
@heckles202:
When I used to live in chelsea I have eaten there many time and I
never experienced any anti gay or racism.
May be some one should point out to that blogger that many black folk
were trying to stop the assailant.
@BigG: In NYC police randomly search people on the subway and sometime in the evening even on the street in neighborhood like chelsea, the last thing you want is to be found with
any kind of weapon on you, but believe me I have thought about it myself
many times and I am not a small guy by any measure.
Realitycheck
@junk4sts:
>>’m not saying I believe this, but it’s possible that the basher feared
>>that he was going to be attacked by the mouthy drink spiller…
Over the years I have seen and experienced many crazy estrogen
driven femminine guys blindly attacking and insulting gay guys in bars
and clubs, for no reason what so ever, so I definitely know what you mean……..
There is how ever another possibility, the NYC gay scene is literally
infected with meth users, many gay guys use it for sex, some occasionally,
some often, and one side effect is highly negative emotions for few days
after use.
I have even seen guys on meth at restaurants and bars, they are having a
great time, by the look of it, but people around them can get very annoyed…….
If the assailant had used meth recently he might have been in an altered
emotional state, and that would explain his extremely violent reaction.
Just an hypothesis………..
>>The problem is, even if they do bring the bashers to justice,
>>it does not undo what was done.
The real damage here is in the eye of public opinion, after years of
repression the gay community has finally reached the turning point
of acceptance, and then something like this happen, and the antigay
lobby will use this, make no mistake about this.
This is not about race, it is about “those crazy” homosexual (us)
behaving like monsters……….
Tackle
@Realitycheck: You really do need to do a self reality check, because you are so far removed from not only reality: but logic, common sense and reasoning. But that’s what r@c!sm does to a person. When does the actions of one or two black men turn into the whole black community??
And it’s always two sides to a story, And it’s obvious you’re only interested in one. You act like you were there, and seen and know first hand as to what happened. As far as the whole world looking down on us, not a problem. Because I don’t want or need the whole world , and certainly you to like and accept me.
Tackle
@Xzamilio: I went over to your Blog page, and from reading your post there, you seem to be implying that this was a hate crime??
If that/this is what you are saying, would it still be a hate crime, if the word
white f@ggot was said after the drinks were spilled, and before punches, were even thrown?? Because during the altercation, according to witnesses there, no hate speech was ever uttered.
Tackle
Here is another side that many above do not care to know. According to Snipes himself, He received an emergency text. As he rushed outside to get more info about a family member who passed, he spilled a drink at the table of those he got into an altercation with. He doesn’t say if he apologized. According to Snipes, ” someone at the table called him a white f@gg@t. At which point Snipes turns back and approaches the table and confronts whoever said it. Snipes own words are, “I don’t let anyone talk to me like that.” ” So I went over there to confront them, and asked, what did you say about us?”
And according to Isaam Sharef, the man who shot the video, it was Snipes who struck one of the black men first, which kicked off the entire brawl.
And reportedly, there is another video that police are viewing that shows Snipes as being the aggressor. The current video online only shows the middle of the brawl, and not the beginning. And before Snipes and York-Adams got hit over the head with the chair, witnesses have said that when one of the black men were on the ground, Snipes kicked him in the head. Too many are quick to rush to judgement, without getting all the facts. And worse, many just don’t care about all the facts. They seem to only want to support someone, and call them a victim as long as that person is to their liking…
enfilmigult
@Tackle: I’m trying to find the eyewitness accounts you’re talking about and I’m having trouble. There’s the blog post, yes, but the blog post kind of has issues and I’m a little leery about believing it gets all of the details right.
When it comes to actual direct quotes from Sharef, he’s talked to multiple news agencies and doesn’t seem to have claimed in any of them that Snipes threw a punch first. He says he “started the fight,” but that could easily mean just what Snipes described: walking over and confronting them. (The lack of explicit detail in the news stories is kind of annoying, ask a followup question for chrissakes.)
I’m also not finding any eyewitness accounts claiming Snipes kicked someone in the head while they were down (although Sharef said someone kicked Snipes in the head while *he* was down). Where are you seeing these?
Also, where are there reports about “another video that police are viewing that shows Snipes as being the aggressor”? The above I just want to see for myself, but this one I’m actually having trouble believing. Someone was filming these guys before the fight started? Why?
Grumpy Cat
Texas BBQ in Chelsea WTF!
Tackle
@enfilmigult: Within a question, you make a very good point.First about why would there be a video from the beginning. No doubt taken from the restaurant where they were eating. As far as Snipes goes I quoting his alleged statements immediately after the fight broke out.Noitced I said alleged, because unlike some of the posters here, I don’t claim, or seem to think I was there.I really need to hear both sides.As far as Snipes goes, if indeed he was the aggressor, I’m sure he’s gonna change his story to prevent prosecution, jail time,possibly getting sued ,and facing a possible backlash from the LGBTQ community for portraying himself as an innocent victim. And multiple account witnesses are online and in blogs that you speak of. Are they reliable, true and accurate: only time will tell. But one strange thing, I have yet to hear one say that the black guys started it, or was the aggressors. That seems to be the belief of many here at Queerty, who were not there…
James Hart
@Grumpy Cat: It’s there. I live a block from it. I’ve eaten there. It’s at the northwest corner of 23rd Street and 8th Avenue. It’s right below the Beth Israel Medical Group.
James Hart
@heckles202: I’ve eaten there and I’m white!
enfilmigult
@Tackle: Thanks for the response. Security video didn’t occur to me because of some already being released, but of course if there’s more they’d probably still be holding on to it. Really though, where did you see it mentioned that such video existed? I can’t find a claim of that anywhere.
As to who was the aggressor, I’m having trouble figuring out how much I care to be honest. Despite being dubious about some of the details of the blog post, I agree with it they both seem to have been escalating the situation. Knocking over someone’s drink is one thing, being rude as hell about it is another. Telling someone they owe you a drink is one thing, calling them “faggot” is another. If that’s how it happened, even if the guy at large is the one who threw the first punch and not Snipe, it’s pretty clear they were both goading each other and both responsible for there being a fight at all. Ethically, if not necessarily legally.
And that’s a problem for Snipe—especially if he threw the first punch—but the thing I seriously disagree with is that it helps out the other guy much as far as his own culpability. That the chair thing could be described as “self-defense” in any sense is such complete bullshit. If he was hit first, that gives him an excuse to press charges, tell his story to the press, and basically do everything Snipe is doing. It gives him no excuse to do what he actually did.
And I find it hard to blame people for assuming “hate crime” when they hear the word “faggot” was used. That’s overwhelmingly the context in which a stranger calls a stranger that. If it’s a lie that it was said, hoo boy is that going to backfire on Snipe and deservedly so. But if it was said, for whatever tortured not-actually-anti-gay reason, it’s kind of on the guy who said it to explain that. I certainly can’t get very het up that the NYPD is investigating to see whether it was a hate crime or not.
enfilmigult
@Tackle: Forgot to add, I agree the media coverage has been pretty grotesque in its irresponsibility (I think it was the Daily News that quoted a friend of Snipe who wasn’t there, without explaining that it wasn’t actually an eyewitness account). I think it’s partly because (even at this moment in U.S. history!) people assume a black guy saying nothing and avoiding the NYPD automatically signals total guilt of everything he’s accused of, partly because nobody wants to be the one saying “well let’s hear the other side of this apparent brutal gay-bashing”—things kind of pale beside the chair attack—and partly because only the people on one side of the fight are talking to anybody. I understand the other guy would keep hiding because there’s really no way to justify the chair, but if other parts of the incident are being misrepresented he’s really the only one who can do anything about that. That or a really reliable witness who just describes the damn thing from beginning to end, which I’m still looking for, don’t know about you.
onthemark
“Do You Know This Man?”
I’m guessing from the comments on these articles that a lot of white Queerty readers really want to say, “THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE.”
heckles202
Has anyone forwarded that blog to crimestoppers? This man needs to face up to what he did!
Tackle
@enfilmigult: Hey I wish I could copy a paste, but I’m using a computer at work. But for a really good counter argument to Snipes story, type in: Waddie Grant Jr/G-list society, and then go to the story about Snipes: titled “Gay hate crime or white gay priviledged.
And also, just type in “Witnesses say Snipes was the aggressor in BBQ brawl.
You will get a different account than what Snipes the gay media and whats being said on here. Again, I’m not sure whose telling the truth, or what to believe at the moment.
But so far, I doubt if this is gonna be seen or charged as a hate crime. I think both will be charged the same equally. Good to respond to someone who is willing to get all the facts, or as much as they can before rushing to judgement.
heckles202
@Tackle: Waddle Grant doesn’t present a good counter-argument. Sorry.. he obviously has an agenda.
Tackle
@heckles202: I’m not focusing on his agenda, or whether he has an agenda. I’m focusing on what the eyewitnesses have to say.. Some of these gays on here who are so quick to judge and convict without hearing or gathering more info about this, seems like they have an agenda…
o.codone
the victims refused to go to the hospital b/c they don’t have insurance. hahaha. they voted for obama and yet they don’t have free healthcare? i hope they finally get it, they’ve been scammed. when exactly are gay men going to realize that their political beliefs and their voting records are actually making their lives worse, not better?
Cagnazzo82
@o.codone: What a scam! Those Democratic scoundrels!
I am so now turning straight to the party that advocates I burn in hell, works to remove my employment protections, outlaw gay adoptions, and roll back marriage gains.
Cannot wait to cast that vote for the Republicans.
enfilmigult
@Tackle: Thanks. I should have been more specific though, Waddie G’s is “the blog post” I’ve been talking about this whole time, ha ha. It’s interesting but some of the details he was allegedly told by Sharef don’t jibe with details Sharef shared directly with reporters; something’s off there. (As described above.)
For “Witnesses say Snipes was the aggressor in BBQ brawl” I’m simply not finding anything I’m afraid. Nothing by that name at least. There’s “Alleged Dallas BBQ Gay-Basher Reportedly Gay” and that’s it for counter-narrative.
And frankly, as I was saying, I don’t think whether Snipes threw the first punch has anything to do with what the guy did with the chair. It certainly doesn’t justify it or suddenly put him in the clear. If Snipes turns out to have been lying by ommission about his responsibility in making it a physical fight to start with, that will be very interesting and everything and put Snipes in a spot of trouble, but it doesn’t do much for that guy and any charges that would arise from bashing the dudes over the head from behind after the fight got broken up. If everything being said about him is true hate crime charges would not be applied, and that’s the limit.
juliansorl
This place is down the street from me and I’ve eaten there a couple of times over the years so this incident really has my attention at the moment. I like our neighborhood and the mix and classes and races and various communities that seem to get along pretty well. My first question is after spilling the drink on the other table did Mr. Snipes reach out to Apologize? My second Question is the did Mr. Snipes or his BF call anyone at the other table the N-word? I don’t mean to presume anything, but there is so much anger and rage in the man using the chair as a weapon and I wonder what brought him to that place?
Tackle
Ok let me get to the meat of your main piint, and that’s Snipe’s getting hit over the head, with the chair, regardless if he started it or not. Respectfully disagree with yku on that. Actually it has everything to do with him starting it, if that is indeed the case. Hypothetical speaking, let’s just say that Snipe’s was the one who started this mess. If so, then he would be responsible for putting himself in the position of being hit by a chair. It wasn’t like they were between a 10 minute break from the brawl. Hell, it wasn’t even a five minutes break. That all happened within a minute of the final blows being thrown: when adrenalin, anger,fear ( excitement) are still high. I would agree with you if about 5-10 minutes had passed. But that seem to have not been the case. Hey, some people need to learn, ” don’t start non, wont be none.”
And keeo in mind, I don’t know what was going through that guys ( chair thrower) but I’m willing to bet you that his defense is gonna be that he was dealing with a very violent person ( Snipe’s) and as Snipes and partner were going back to table, he still felt threaten, not knowing if Snipes had a jacket,coat,backpack, fannypack,or whatever, which either could have contained a weapon. And guess what: that is a probability.
Now I don’t know why you’re having such difficulty getting more info.I’m typing in just what I told you, a loads of info is coming up.
And thank you. My pleasure. ..
Tackle
@enfilmigult: above is for your
Tackle
@Tackle: Damn! Ment you
Tackle
@enfilmigult: BTW, I have to add this. I can reverse what you said about, ” it doesn’t justify or put the guy in the clear for the chair incident.”
Well it doesn’t make Snipes any more of a victim because of it. Because the same thing you are saying the guy did to Snipes at the end, Snipes ( according to witnesses) did to him at the beginning. But only with his fist. And yes, you can break a nose, give someone a concussion, or even kill them with a chair. But you can also do the same with a fist.
enlightenone
@Maude: “And lets have a live telecast of his trial.”
Get a grip, and stop being a drama queen!
Glücklich
Plot thickens:
http://gothamist.com/2015/05/08/alleged_dallas_bbq_gay-basher_repor.php
Tackle
@Glücklich: I knew about this, but for all who did not, good thing, because they need to read this.
So Maude
Realitycheck: especially you
David Barenz
Kieran
Danny Ray
Jason Smeds
Mikkel
Steven Shelton
Buba Booey
Big G
And Xzamillo: what do you guys have to say now??
Realitycheck
@Tackle:
I say you do not assault some one, kick them in the face and then smash a
chair on their heads, you call management or the police.
There is no excuse for that kind of behavior, and zero justification for it.
Simply put is the difference between a human capable of emotional
restrain and logic vs a filthy beast with none of it.
You are also assuming that article is 100 factual vs people own interpretation
of the facts.
Make no mistake, if the assailant is apprehended, and assuming the leads are real,
he will be, the judge will not care of who started and how once he sees the video
showing who finished and how.
Realitycheck
@enlightenone:
>>enlightenone
>>@Maude: “And lets have a live telecast of his trial.”
>>Get a grip, and stop being a drama queen!
LOL I agree!! And this is not big news outside the gay community and nobody
got permanently injured, it is just shocking because of the violence involved.