2 days ago
A gay man in D.C. was attacked in his home with a rock. He believes it was a hate crime
A gay couple in Washington, D.C., is demanding justice after an assailant threw a rock through their window and struck one of them in the head.
Addam Schauer-Mayhew was watching tennis on his couch around noon Friday when his home cameras recorded a man covering his face approaching their house, which was decorated with rainbow flags, and throwing a rock through their window. About the size of a baseball, the rock struck Schauer-Mayhew on the head, causing him to bleed severely.
Schauer-Mayhew's husband, Bryan Schauer, was upstairs getting ready for their planned outing to WorldPride when he heard his partner cry out in pain. He hurried downstairs to find shattered glass, his injured husband, and "a lot of blood."
"The rock that was thrown was about baseball size, and it was almost like a piece of concrete that had sharp, jagged edges," Schauer told local station WUSA. "I can't imagine how much it hurt."
The assailant, who appeared to be wearing an ankle bracelet, then ran from the home. While his face was not visible, the couple believes that the young man is the same person who has been targeting them for the past year. Often accompanied by a younger teen, the couple said that the two have confronted them before and called them homophobic slurs.
"One time late last year, as we were leaving our garage, he was throwing LGBTQ slurs at us," Schauer-Mayhew said. "They know who we are and where we live."
D.C. police confirmed that they are investigating the attack, according to the station. The couple is demanding that the case be investigated as a hate crime, as Schauer-Mayhew was left not just with a head injury but also with a fear of leaving his home.
"This is the first time in the 20 years I've lived here that I've been afraid to go outside," he said. "I am proud of who I am. I'm proud to be a gay man, a queer man, living in the city that I love in. I'm just trying to be accepted."
