Monday, June 1, 2015

The 'Dallas BBQ Attacker' Speaks Out


Interesting news about the Dallas BBQ fight.

So, for those who has been keeping up, Bayna-Lehkiem El-Amin who is known as the EVIL ANTI-GAY basher who fled the scene after attacking Jonathan Snipes and his friend at the restaurant.

What happened after that was very interesting to watch. El-Amin was labeled a violent criminal, Jonathan was the VICTIM and the bloggers and media ran with a half-assed story with pieces missing. The gay blog, G-List Society asked some questions about the incident that drew criticism and racist responses. The points were valid, which caused others to questioned what happened that night. Even I wondered if everything happened the way Jonathan described it. It seems odd to take only his side of the story and run with it.

But now G-List writer, Waddie G, has El-Amin's side of the story and yes, it's very different than Jonathan's.
“We are fortunate enough to live in a country where all people are protected against crimes based upon their race or sexual orientation. That’s a blessing because everyone in this world doesn’t have that privilege and right. I think that is sad and unfortunate that someone would misuse that right and play this card that they have been gay-bashed or been attacked and then call someone a homophobe. I’m also disappointed in the community, in particular certain members of the LGBT community, who have not done their due diligence to make sure that if someone is saying this – that what they’re saying is true. In particular, that [openly-gay] Councilman [Corey Johnson] in that area who said so many horrible things about me to his constituents. I don’t understand why he would call me a homophobe.”
El-Amin also talked in detail how it all started:
“We were sitting at our table, and there was [initially] no disturbance in the restaurant. All of a sudden, we noticed a disturbance some distance away from us. Two men [Snipes and his companion] were standing over their table fighting each other, and the fight threatened to spill over to the table of ladies that were closest to them. [The ladies] were cringing when they saw the two guys fighting each other [right by them].
So, I said [Snipes and his companion], ‘Hey, guys! There are ladies here.’ I said it in a tone that was authoritative…to get their attention. However, they continued.
Moments later, it appeared that Mr. Snipes was going to leave the restaurant. But, by standing at the door, he directed his attention toward me, walked towards me and said, ‘And YOU calling us ladies!’ And, he struck me. He struck me in the head with an object. I’m not sure what it was, but it felt like a heavy blunt object — and it hurt.
You can read the rest on the G-List Society blog, but it continues to raise questions. While I don't condone violence, I also don't condone foolishness. If El-Amin's story is true then we have opened a huge can of bias/racist views. Because when you break it all the way down. People quickly sided with the white man's story and easily branded the person of color as the villain.

Again, if El-Amin's story is true.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

There's gay people coming forward speaking out about how this Bayna-Lehkiem El-Aminhas attacked them before or made homophobic comments about them. The fact that you're quick to defend him speaks to your own racism and internalized homophobia

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.