A gay couple was targeted and beaten shortly after Miami’s 10th annual Gay Pride Parade, police say, leading to four arrests.
Gay couple Rene Charlarca and Dmitry Logunov were holding hands together in Miami Beach around 7:30p.m. on Sunday when four men approached the couple walking out of a restroom and attacked them. The group then proceeded to push, punch, and beat Charlarca and Lougnov, according to local station WSVN.
“We probably provoked them because we were walking together, holding hands,” Logunov said, according to Sun Sentinel. “It was gay pride, South Beach was full of gay people.”
After facing cuts and bruises to both their faces and bodies, Charlarca and Lougnov said they were chased. Miami Beach Police Officer Ernesto Rodriguez claims the four suspects even “made a derogatory, anti-gay slur” in Spanish to the couple, according to local station WSVN.
Surveillance video of the incident was tweeted out by police on Tuesday to find the suspects.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE 4 SUSPECTS?
— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) April 10, 2018
These suspects are responsible for the brutal attack that follows. Occurred Sunday night after Miami Beach Gay Pride at 6 Street/Ocean Drive.
Call Crime Stoppers: https://t.co/rYWIrW8nIR. pic.twitter.com/NQthfFMIrB
By Tuesday afternoon, Adonis David Diaz, Juan Carlos Lopez, Luis M. Alonso Piovet, and Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, all between the ages of 20 and 21, turned themselves in and were charged with three counts of aggravated battery, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Investigators are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
“This is a weekend on Miami Beach where we celebrate equality,” Rodriguez said, WSVN reports. “Something like this is completely uncalled for, completely unnecessary, and we really need to hold those responsible accountable.”