Police in New York said a man who previously claimed to be beaten and harassed with anti-gay slurs lied and was actually the aggressor in the incident.
The New York Post and New York Daily News had previously reported that on Sunday night a 25-year-old man was taken to the hospital with a head laceration. He told police that he had been beaten by two men in a New York City train, leaving blood on the platform. But after interviewing witnesses, investigators said that they believe the man lied and was actually the one who was being confrontational.
Video of the skirmish obtained by police allegedly shows the man spitting on other subway riders before the two men originally thought to be suspects attempted to subdue him. After interviewing witnesses, authorities said that the man was drunk, and they don’t believe that any anti-gay slurs were used. The wound he suffered was reportedly a result of him being subdued.
Police say that they don’t plan to charge the man with filing a false report.
36-year-old “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett set off a media firestorm this year after being accused by police in Chicago of hiring two individuals to fake an anti-gay and anti-black hate crime against him for his personal benefit. Smollett was charged with 16 felonies, although the charges against Smollett were suddenly dropped in March leaving police and city officials upset.
Despite instances of faked hate crimes, the most recent FBI statistics show that hate crimes rose 17% in 2017.
