By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HELL'S KITCHEN — A bronze star recipient will lose a stripe and take a pay cut as punishment from a military court for a gay hate crime that occurred on Manhattan's West Side.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Benjamin Ford accepted the charges that he had yelled anti-gay slurs and assaulted three men outside McCoy's Bar on Ninth Avenue last September, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said in a statement.
"Die of AIDS, you f----- queers!” Ford allegedly screamed during the attack, after he flicked a cigarette at Blake Hayes, a local radio personality and DJ, the NYPD said.
Police tracked Ford to a base in England last month. He'd been in New York as part of President Barack Obama's United Nations security detail when he got into the brawl with Hayes and his friends, Alec Bell and Danny Calvery, police said.
Although Hayes reported the incident to the NYPD, the case was transferred to military court under an agreement with the U.S. Air Force. He will not face civilian charges here in Manhattan, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
“This sentence shows that if you commit a hate crime in New York City, you will be pursued, apprehended and prosecuted," Quinn said in a statement.
"I want to thank the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force for working collaboratively on this case with my office as well as with Air Force officials," Quinn said. "I applaud the United States Air Force for taking swift and appropriate action on this case."
A separate investigation by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is still being conducted after the victims complained that police didn't respond quickly.
With additional reporting by Shayna Jacobs.
