Police have determined that hate crime charges will be added to robbery with force and violence charges for three teens arrested following the attack on Carl Craven and Braden Brecht, a gay couple, in Washington D.C. over the weekend. The couple moved to D.C. one month ago.
Police arrested three teens, two juvenile ages 15 and 16 and one adult aged 19 identified as Marcus Britt, all from Fort Washington, Maryland.
Wrote Craven on a GoFundMe page set up to cover medical expenses: “My boyfriend, Braden, and I were walking from Hawthorne's to Nellie's on U St (in DC) last night and we stopped to talk for a few minutes. He was leaning against me and a few guys started yelling ‘faggot' at him and started to swing at him. It was all a quick blur but next thing you know there was literally a mob of 15 guys beating him. They came out of nowhere and I was powerless to stop them, all I could do was jump on him to try protect him and scream help. I don't remember how long they kept beating him for. They stole his phone and my wallet. They chipped a major part of his front tooth and he had to get multiple stitches on his lip. Braden doesn't have insurance and will have ER, ambulance, and counseling bills, along with needing a new phone. He will also be out of work for some time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
