A violent incident against a gay couple following a confrontation outside a liquor store in Mattapan on the evening of September 13 is under investigation by Boston police.

Reports the Boston Globe:

A gay man walking in Mattapan earlier this month was struck in the head with a baseball bat and his partner was attacked during a confrontation with a group of men on River Street. 

Boston police are investigating the violence on Sept. 13 as a hate crime against gay people, according to an incident report. As of Sunday, the investigation was ongoing and no arrests had been made, a Boston Police Department spokesperson said. 

“Hate is never tolerated in Boston,” a city spokesperson said Saturday in a statement. “Our thoughts go out to the two victims, and we ask anyone with information to contact Boston Police. The BPD Civil Rights Division is investigating this incident thoroughly.”

The man who had been struck by the bat was bleeding from the back of his head when officers found him on the ground in a River Street parking lot, the police report said.

Boston Emergency Medical Services took him by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for an evaluation, though the report didn’t provide further details about his condition. Officers took the other victim to the District B-3 station in Mattapan, where he was interviewed by detectives, the report said.

Police redacted the victims’ names from the report. 

The violence followed a verbal dispute between the couple and a group of men who were gathered near a liquor store on River Street at about 7:45 p.m., police said. As the couple approached the liquor store, the group of men directed anti-gay slurs at them, the report said.

The men made some of the anti-gay remarks in Haitian Creole, according to a witness who spoke with the Globe on Saturday. He declined to give his name because he said he fears retaliation. 

“It was not right,” the man said. “I was mad.” 

A security camera from a nearby building captured some of the confrontation.

Read the complete Boston Globe story here.

Not a subscriber?  Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine.  We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information.  Click HERE to sign up.