Suspect Arrested In Videotaped Beating Of Gay Man At Convenience Store In Atlanta

Via CNN:

One of three suspects in a videotaped beating of a gay man has been arrested, Atlanta police said Saturday. Christopher Cain, 18, was taken into custody around midnight and charged with aggravated assault and robbery, said a statement from police spokesman Carlos Campos. Three men were seen in the video shouting anti-gay slurs as they beat, punched and kicked Brandon White, 20. Police have identified two other suspects but they have not yet been arrested nor have their names been released.

White was attacked February 4 outside a convenience store in a working class neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed doubled to $10,000 a reward for information leading to arrests. Meanwhile Saturday, community leaders and neighborhood residents rallied outside the convenience store in support of White. “When you see something going wrong, you must do what you’re doing here today,’ said U.S. Rep. John Lewis. White did not report the attack at first but stepped forward after a video went viral on the internet.

The video showed three men punching and kicking White after he stepped out of the JVC Grocery and Deli. The men, believed to be members of a gang called Jack City, yelled: “No f—-ts in Jack City.” Later, the store’s surveillance video showed White, dressed in a purple shirt and black jeans with a cell phone to his left ear, exit the store along with another man. As soon as they stepped outside, White was accosted by his attackers. The surveillance video captured eight men standing around watching, two of them with video cameras in hand. One man lunged at White with a tire in his hands.

“If a straight person can walk to the store, I should be able to do the same thing,” White said. “I could have died that day. They are monsters. At this point I am beyond mad.” He said he could not at first even bring himself to watch the video; he was so humiliated and embarrassed. But after its wide circulation, White decided to talk to the police.