A gang of at least four teens age 13-18 who may have been drinking attacked Kevin Kiadii, a 25-year-old gay freelance make-up artist, in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Wednesday night and were arrested at the scene, CBS2 reports.
The trouble began when Kiadii encountered the teens, he says:
As a gesture of kindness, Kiadii said he offered one of them a bottle of soda.
“The shortest one out of them, he was a hot head, he jumped in my face and started saying anti-gay slurs,” Kiadii said.
He said that one took on a fighting stance, and Kiadii told them they should back away.
“When I said that, the one that was really intoxicated jumped into my face and said ‘I’m going to [expletive] you up’ and do this and ‘you F and [expletive],’ and I went into my bag, and pulled out my bottle of perfume, to imitate pepper spray,” Kiadii said.
Kiadii said he received mainly bruises and cuts:
“One of the dudes tried to kick me in the face, but just missed and he got me in my shoulder,” Kiadii said.
The victim said he was able to quickly dial 911 on his phone and hand it to a bystander, but police who were nearby were already responding, taking four into custody.
Kiadii is the 10th victim of an anti-gay hate crime in NYC this month.
