A 54-year-old man was in Chelsea one weekend last month when an individual allegedly walked up to him, started arguing with him, brandished a knife, and voiced anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, according to police.
It was shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 20 when the man was approached by an apparent stranger near West 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue, cops said. The unknown individual subsequently struck up a verbal dispute with the man, which subsequently escalated — and that was when the man apparently pulled out his knife and started hurling homophobic language out of the blue.
According to amNY, law enforcement sources said the incident occurred when the victim was en route to a UPS store. After a run-in, the suspect asked the victim what his problem was before the victim proceeded to ask, “Was that necessary?” The suspect then followed the victim before confronting him again, pulling a knife, and blurting out, “Don’t mess with me, fa****.”
It is not clear whether the victim in the case is an LGBTQ individual. According to surveillance video footage, the alleged assailant was spotted carrying a cardboard box while donning a black winter hat, a leather jacket, and black pants.
No arrests have been made in the case and the alleged attacker’s identity is not immediately clear. Police said they were searching for the individual for allegedly menacing as a hate crime.
