How the Dallas BBQ incident Jumped All Over the Place

So, all this week we have heard about this homophobic attack on two gay men in Dallas BBQ in Chelsea. Almost every blog and gay website had something to say about the incident.

Let me point out DNA Info's version

A gay couple was bashed over the head with a wooden chair, knocked to the ground and kicked by two men hurling anti-gay slurs at the Chelsea Dallas BBQ Tuesday night, in an attack captured on a graphic video, according to police and the victims. "These guys attacked us specifically because they knew we weren't their type of people," said Jonathan Snipes, 32, who had a tooth knocked loose and cartilage snapped in his ear during the beating.

"It was disgusting. It was awful," Snipes, who was attacked alongside his boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, 25, told DNAinfo New York. In one video, York-Adams, 25, tries to shield Snipes by throwing his arm around his shoulder just before a man rushes up to them with a wooden chair and cracks it over their heads. York-Adams falls to the floor and Snipes slumps into a nearby chair, visibly dazed. An NYPD spokesman said an investigation is ongoing, but that the incident was not currently being investigated as a hate crime.

At the restaurant, Snipes got a text about a death in his family and needed to leave the restaurant quickly, he said. As he headed out, he accidentally knocked over a drink, he said. "A table near us audibly started making pretty gross comments about the two of us like, 'White faggots, spilling drinks,'" Snipes said. "I don't let anyone talk to me like that. I went over there and asked, 'What did you say about us?'" he added. The man knocked Snipes to the ground and started kicking his face and spine, knocking loose one of his teeth, snapping the cartilage in his ear and bruising his head, he said. He shouted, "Take that, faggot," according to Snipes.

Okay, judging from this story these guys were attacked by these angry Black men. However, that wasn't the whole story. Apparently, Jonathan stepped up to the men and allegedly through the first punch.

Interestingly enough, this piece of info was left out or not really reported on in several blogs and reports. Also here is the full video. What most people saw was the chair being thrown, not the part that led into it.


This is horrible to watch, but it is horrible to make so many assumptions. Here are some questions I have about this whole incident.

• Do we know if the attacker is gay? Several people are saying he is, so if that's the case, then this is not a hate crime or an anti-gay attack.
• Why did folks report this story with so many holes in it? It just doesn't do anyone any good when we have a half-assed story with half-assed facts.
• Why were folks so quick to call this a hate crime when they had no clear proof?

This story and reactions to it speaks in volumes. The big jump to conclusion was very real. Many folks already made up their minds this story with half of the info. I was hesitant to even talk about it because of the lack of evidence. I just want bring up some of these issues because we need to know the whole story before we go off the deep end.

Hopefully, more info will come forward.