Man stabbed by frenzied homophobe in suspected hate crime on first day of Pride

A man has been stabbed in New York City on the first day of Pride month, in what is believed to have been a homophobic hate crime.

According to the New York Post, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said the 1 June attack took place on a train in the early hours of the morning.

A man on the training began hurling homophobic slurs at a 31-year-old passenger, and then stabbed him in his right arm with a “sharp object”.

After the attack, the suspect jumped off the train and was last seen running down New York City’s Brook Avenue.

He has not yet been apprehended, and the case is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.

Emergencies services took the victim to Lincoln Medical Center. He is said to be in a stable condition.

Between January and April this year, hate crimes in New York City increased 76 per cent compared to the same period in 2021.

In early April, two people at were injured at a New York City gay club after a suspected arsonist doused the floor in gasoline and set it on fire.

Later that month, a 25-year-old gay social worker named Julio Ramirez was found dead in the back of a taxi in New York City’s popular Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood.

Ramirez had been at a gay bar with friends, but at 3.17am a security camera caught him getting in a cab with three unknown men.

The taxi driver later reported to police that Ramirez was unresponsive, but he was pronounced dead by 5am.

Ramirez was found without his phone or his wallet, and days later, his brother discovered that his bank account had been drained after his death. A total or around $20,000 had disappeared via payments made with Apple Pay and Zelle.

More than a month after his death, investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made.