Gay men and trans woman targeted in two separate attacks at Burger King and McDonald’s

This week we learned of two separate assaults related to fast food restaurants: First, two gay men were sprayed with a “corrosive liquid” near a London McDonald’s, and second, a gay man and trans women were allegedly attacked by employees of a Miami Beach Burger King, using antigay slurs, pepper spraying and punching the man hard enough to break his jaw.

The two latter individuals are now suing Burger King to find out the names of the alleged assailants and to cover medical bills related to the attack.

The London attack allegedly occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 19, 2019 when an unknown assailant sprayed two men in the face with what police believe to be pepper spray.

Both men required paramedic care. Police believe the attacker may have also assaulted two other men in a similar way at a local KFC restaurant 20 minutes prior to the bus stop ordeal. Police are asking the public to help them apprehend the criminal.

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Related: Homophobic gang of 9 jailed for squirting acid onto men’s faces

The Burger King incident occurred in October 2018 when gay man Raymond Ortega and trans woman Toni Llerena sat down to eat their foot at a Burger King Whopper Bar in South Beach, Miami.

An employee allegedly told them to leave, but when the two customers commented that the restaurant was still open for 1.5 hours and no other customers were being asked to leave, the employee reportedly said, “Y’all need to leave. You’re a bunch of f*gg*ts.”

Ortega says a security guard then arrived, repeated the slur, pepper sprayed him and Llerena and then punched him in the face so hard that it broke his jaw.

While Ortega and Llerena didn’t file a police report at the time, worrying that they might be mistakenly arrested as the aggressors, they’ve confirmed with the restaurant that video footage of the incident exists. They also believe that other customers made cell phone recordings.

Burger King has not yet responded to requests for comment.