Two gay men were attacked Friday night as Austin’s Pride celebrations were under way, leading them to believe they were targeted for being gay.
Nick Soret and a friend were on 4th Street getting pizza at a food truck when a man to them started asking them what they were looking at.
Soret told Austin’s KVUE when he picked up his pizza, the man beat him with it, burning him.
The man then punched his friend in the face when he tried to intervene, and attacked Soret, cutting his lip and bruising his arm before leaving the area.
His friend has a fractured jaw and will likely need surgery.
Soret said he thinks they were attacked because he and his friend are gay.
“He thought I was checking him out or he thought I was looking at him and so for that, he knocked all my friend’s teeth out, he punched me in the face,” Soret told KVUE.
Austin police are investigating the attack. The pizza trailer had a surveillance camera on it, so police expect to find the man soon.
“It was done just out of meaness and I think prejudice. It was unprovoked. We did not provoke him, we did not engage him. We didn’t do anything,” Soret said.
News of the attack spread through Austin over the weekend and cast a shadow on the Pride festivities. Soret, who has lived in Austin for 20 years, said his sense of security is now gone.
Watch KVUE’s report below.
