Yesterday, police arrested two men in connection with the brutal beating of two gay men in midtown Manhattan. Asllan Berisha, 21, and Brian Ramirez, 21, have been charged with hate crimes of felony assault and harassment for allegedly beating the two victims, ages 27 and 37, outside the PATH station on W. 33rd St. and Ninth Ave. about 5 a.m. Berisha's lawyer said, “My client was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” while his cousin told the Post, “He doesn’t have a problem with gay people.”
According to police, the victims, whose names have not been not released, were walking away from the Space Billiards pool hall when one of the assailants asked whether they were gay. “When they acknowledged they were, they were beaten to the ground,” said officials, adding the attackers uttered anti-gay slurs and repeatedly punched and kicked them. The victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where one man underwent eye surgery.
Cops are looking for more suspects—they believe there were at least five or six people involved with the beating. This attack came five days after two other gay men were attacked in the area near the Garden.
