MANHATTAN — Police released a new video Thursday of a man suspected of smashing a chair over the heads of two gay men in a possible bias attack that was videotaped in Chelsea on Cinco de Mayo.
The confrontation began when the unidentified suspect and another man started yelling anti-gay slurs at Jonathan Snipes, 32, after he accidently knocked over a drink inside Dallas BBQ on West 23rd Street shortly after 11 p.m. on May 5.
During the argument, the man became enraged, smashing a chair over the heads of Snipes and his partner Ethan York-Adams, 25.
"A table near us audibly started making pretty gross comments about the two of us like, 'White f----ts, spilling drinks,'" Snipes told DNAinfo New York a day after the attack.
"I don't let anyone talk to me like that. I went over there and asked, 'What did you say about us?'"
One of the men then knocked Snipes to the ground, started kicking him and shouting, “Take that, f----t,” Snipes added.
Snipes’ boyfriend, York-Adams, was eventually able to help get him off the ground.
The attacker then bashed the chair over Snipes and his boyfriend.
A police spokesman said the investigation is ongoing when asked if investigators would look to speak with the other man allegedly involved in the assault.
The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is also investigating the incident as a possible bias attack.
There have been 16 sexual orientation-based bias crimes in the city this year, including two in Manhattan below 59th Street.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or texting tips to 274637(CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
