At Folsom Fair, 2 Men Attacked With Pepper Spray in Possible Hate Crime

Two friends visiting the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco said they were attacked by five assailants, who pepper sprayed the men, Saturday night in what could be a hate crime, SF Gate reports.

Neil Frias and Jeff White, both 28, were visiting from New York for the weekend to celebrate the Folsom Street Fair, a popular event for the LGBT community's leather enthusiasts. The event takes place in San Fran's South of Market neighborhood.

The men said they were attacked around 9 p.m. Saturday outside a McDonald's. When Frias left the restaurant, he said five men pulled up in a blue minivan and yelled gay slurs at him.

"They were saying, 'You fags are destroying family values,'" Frias told SF Gate. "I said I didn't want any trouble, and one of them got out of the van. I thought he was going to take a swing at me, but he sprayed me across the face."

While he was sprayed with the "searing sting," Frais said second man cam up with another can of pepper spray and a third attacker beat White, who curled into a ball to protect his face.

"I was completely vulnerable," White told the newspaper. "I thought they were going to start beating me."

A woman who witnessed the incident said yelled she was calling police, sparking the attackers to get back into the vehicle and flee the scene. Police and paramedics responded and took the friends back to their hotel.

"The thing that was the most remarkable about the situation is how unprovoked it was," White said. "I was literally tying my shoe when they came at me. It's mind-boggling."

Frais took to Facebook Sunday and wrote about the incident.

"Last night my friend I got attacked outside of McDonald's... It was one of the scariest moments in my life," he said. "To think that people have so much hatred inside of them to target people.

"Please be alert and don't hang out alone at night," he added. "My friend and I are currently OK; I was blind for about 3 hours and the police officers are currently looking for them."

White also posted on Facebook.

"I want to take a second and thank not only my friends and family but everyone that has expressed their thoughts and support in response to the act of pure hate my friend and I experienced in SF," he wrote. "I can't express how everyone has warmed my heart! And don't worry Folsom I will be back next year evil doesn't die that easily."

Police from San Fran Police Department's North District spoke to SF Gate about the incident, saying they're looking for surveillance footage that could have captured the attack.

"We take these crimes very seriously," Officer Carlos Manfredi, a San Francisco police spokesman, told SF Gate. "If anybody feels they can attack someone based on their sexual preference, we're going to go after them and hold them accountable."