It is with a heavy heart and a bruised face that I write this letter but I think it's important that my experience be known.
In the early morning hours of Sunday June 14th, I was the victim of a hate crime on the corner of NW 6th and Couch. This happened outside of Casey's, a gay bar where I am a dj and it was 2:30 in the morning, after the bar had closed.
When I came outside to make my way home, I saw that a friend of mine was talking with the Portland Police. She had been punched in the face by a man who had been spouting homophobic remarks at her and another friend of mine. Her nose was broken and the police had arrived to investigate this crime. While I was watching this interaction, a group of men approached the scene also shouting homophobic remarks. I walked up to them to ask them to leave the area and the next thing I remember, I was on the ground with my mouth bleeding. I didn't really know or understand what had happened. I had been punched in the mouth and knocked out.
The Portland Police department, who was on the scene, was completely negligent to my situation. They talked to the guy who said I had started it, yet there wasn't a scratch on him and I was the one on the ground bleeding. As I was sitting on the ground, the police officers refused to let a friend of mine bring me ice for my face, threatening to arrest him if he attempted to approach me.
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