Police said on Wednesday that they were looking for two young men who allegedly attacked a gender nonconforming person in Brooklyn in what officials are calling a hate crime.
According to the NYPD, the 33-year-old victim was sitting on the front steps of their home near Boerum Street and Bushwick Avenue at around 5 p.m. Monday. Officials said two unidentified men approached and asked if the victim was a woman.
Police said it was unclear how the victim responded, but a verbal dispute ensued. Both men made harassing remarks, picked up a metal pipe and struck the victim in the head before fleeing.
The victim was bruised but refused medical attention at the scene.
One of the men was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants, while the other was wearing blue jeans and a blue hoodie with a white logo on the upper left side.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspects and victim knew each other.
Official reports of gender bias-related hate crimes remain relatively low citywide, according to the NYPD’s Hate Crimes dashboard.
From January 2024 to the end of March, the period of time for which records are available, police reported three incidents against transgender individuals and two incidents against lesbians. Hate crime assaults against gay men were much higher, with 11 incidents reported during that time frame.
Those numbers are almost equal to incidents reported to the NYPD during the same period last year.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
