• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Lawyer Argues Miami Beach Pride Gay Bashing Couldn’t Have Been Hate Crime Because Attacker’s Father is Gay: WATCH

June 26, 2018 by Andy Towle Leave a Comment

miami beach gay bashers

An attorney is trying to get hate crime charges thrown out against four men who beat a gay couple following Miami Beach’s Gay Pride festival in May. His argument? One of the men charged in the beating, which was caught on camera, has a gay father.

NBC Miami reports: “Juan Lopez, the father of Juan Carlos Lopez, said that he raised his son along with his partner of 15 years. Lopez said his son and his three friends have never attacked ‘any gay people.’ ‘I’m sure 100 percent of that,’ he said, adding that his son respects ‘everybody in this community’ and that he ‘loves LGBT.'”

Hate crime charges, which were added to aggravated battery charges, mean the men would face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov, the couple, and Helmut Muller Estrada, a good samaritan who stepped in, were violently attacked by the four men. The victims said they were targeted because of their sexual orientation. They said their attackers used gay slurs while assaulting them.

The attackers are identified as (clockwise, from top left) Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, 21, Luis Alonso-Piovet, 20, Juan C. Lopez, 21, and Adonis Diaz, 21. The perps turned themselves in after being seen in video and surveillance photos widely shared on social media.

Lopez’s lawyer said there was “clearly” not gay animus because Lopez’s father is gay: “These kids grew up with their friend Juan – their father has been in a gay relationship the last 15 years. These kids have participated in that – that’s at issue.”

Watch:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: florida, hate crime, Miami, Miami beach

Recent Posts

  • Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    12 hours ago
  • Sun, Sand and Wide Open Spaces Await Travelers in Key West

    Sun, Sand and Wide Open Spaces Await Travelers in Key West

    14 hours ago
  • Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Pick: WATCH

    Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Pick: WATCH

    16 hours ago
  • Tyler Oakley Taking Indefinite Break from YouTube After 12 Years: WATCH

    Tyler Oakley Taking Indefinite Break from YouTube After 12 Years: WATCH

    17 hours ago
Previous Post: « Ivanka Trump Donates $50,000 to Virulently Homophobic and Transphobic Church
Next Post: Stephen Colbert to Sarah Huckabee Sanders: ‘You Work for Donald Trump. You Don’t Even Treat Yourself with Respect’ – WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

  • Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

  • Sun, Sand and Wide Open Spaces Await Travelers in Key West

  • Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Pick: WATCH

Recent Posts

  • Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    12 hours ago
  • Sun, Sand and Wide Open Spaces Await Travelers in Key West

    Sun, Sand and Wide Open Spaces Await Travelers in Key West

    14 hours ago
  • Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Pick: WATCH

    Biden Announces Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary Pick: WATCH

    16 hours ago
  • Tyler Oakley Taking Indefinite Break from YouTube After 12 Years: WATCH

    Tyler Oakley Taking Indefinite Break from YouTube After 12 Years: WATCH

    17 hours ago
  • USPS Releases Postmaster General’s Completely Redacted Calendar in Response to Demands from AOC and Watchdog Group Over Mail Slowdowns

    USPS Releases Postmaster General’s Completely Redacted Calendar in Response to Demands from AOC and Watchdog Group Over Mail Slowdowns

    18 hours ago
  • ‘Lincoln Project’ Co-Founder Steve Schmidt Says He’ll Register as Democrat, Warns of ‘Second Coup’ Attempt in ‘Dangerous Hour’ for the Country: WATCH

    ‘Lincoln Project’ Co-Founder Steve Schmidt Says He’ll Register as Democrat, Warns of ‘Second Coup’ Attempt in ‘Dangerous Hour’ for the Country: WATCH

    19 hours ago
  • Tom Cruise Rips into ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Crew Over COVID Protocols in F-Bomb Laden Tirade: LISTEN

    Tom Cruise Rips into ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Crew Over COVID Protocols in F-Bomb Laden Tirade: LISTEN

    20 hours ago
  • Outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Urges Career Staffers to ‘Be the Resistance’ Against the Biden Administration

    Outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Urges Career Staffers to ‘Be the Resistance’ Against the Biden Administration

    21 hours ago
  • Palm Beach Community Sends Demand Letter to Trumps: Don’t Move Here

    Palm Beach Community Sends Demand Letter to Trumps: Don’t Move Here

    21 hours ago
  • Franklin Graham: ‘I am Grateful to God’ for Trump, Who ‘Will Go Down as One of the Great Presidents of Our Nation’

    Franklin Graham: ‘I am Grateful to God’ for Trump, Who ‘Will Go Down as One of the Great Presidents of Our Nation’

    21 hours ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2020 · Log in