March 2, 2021
Watch: Missouri Gay Couple Beaten Outside Casino Say It was a Hate Crime
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A gay couple were allegedly attacked and beaten outside a casino in St. Charles, Missouri, over the weekend, and they say the assault was clearly a hate crime. Police say they are not so sure.
Local news station KDSK reports that the couple - whose names have not been released - were walking out of Ameristar Casino when they encountered a group of men coming into the establishment.
One of the men feigned throwing a punch at them and hurled an anti-gay epithet, the victims contend. Then, they say, the situation turned into a brutal attack.
The beating took place in the hours of February 27, as one of the men helped his boyfriend exit the casino on the way back to the car. The boyfriend was intoxicated and needed help walking, the victims said.
The man who was supporting his boyfriend pushed back at being called a homophobic slur, news reports said. It was that point the men allegedly began punching and kicking. The man's inebriated boyfriend was knocked out and fell to the ground.
"All I could think about was getting over him, covering as he was getting hit with punches and kicks," the man said. "He was laying there unconscious."
Speaking to another local channel,
"Everything after that was out of hate, so it's clearly a hate crime," the man continued. "As I'm crawling to him, I'm begging them, 'Please stop. Please stop. We're done.' Then they hit me in the stomach, I say, 'Please, we're done, we're done.' They say, '(profanity) right, you're (profanity) done.' "
Now, he and his boyfriend are scared to go out in public.
Police heard a different account from three of the men in the group, who denied making any aggressive movements toward the couple. They claimed they had tried to step around the couple in order to avoid colliding with them. The men in that group had also been drinking, the news report said.
Police are now examined security footage to determine what happened, but since the video does not include sound, the claim of hateful language could be hard - or impossible - to prove.
"There's a dispute as to what type of language was used back and forth," Lieutenant Tom Wilkison of the St. Charles Police Department told Fox2Now. "At this time, we don't have anything to support that the two people got beaten up or targeted because of their sexual orientation."
Missouri does have a hate crime statute on the books, news reports noted, and if police determine that a hate crime did occur - and convictions follow - it could mean as much as three additional years in jail.
Ameristar Casino released a statement in the wake of the alleged attack, saying, "We have zero-tolerance for those who commit acts of violence or intolerance and are working closely with law enforcement in their investigation.
Watch the KDSK news clip below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
