What to Know
- A man will spend years behind bars in connection with a violent anti-gay attack against two men at a Brooklyn bodega in 2021, prosecutors said.
- Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Christopher Clemente, 38, and of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison and five years' post-release supervision after he pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime earlier this year.
- Gonzalez said, citing the investigation, that about 2:10 a.m., on Sept. 4, 2021, inside of a bodega located on Broadway in Bushwick, a 36-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, were waiting for food when the Clemente and the co-defendant allegedly made homophobic slurs toward the victims before the vicious attack happened.
A man will spend years behind bars in connection with a violent anti-gay attack against two men at a Brooklyn bodega in 2021, prosecutors said.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Christopher Clemente, 38, and of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison and five years' post-release supervision after he pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime earlier this year.
The case against Clemente's co-defendant is pending.
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The sentencing is in connection to an assault that left two men with various injuries, including collapsed lungs.
Gonzalez said, citing the investigation, that about 2:10 a.m., on Sept. 4, 2021, inside of a bodega located on Broadway in Bushwick, a 36-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, were waiting for food when the Clemente and the co-defendant allegedly made homophobic slurs toward the victims.
Subsequently, Clemente punched the 36-year-old man in the face and Clemente's alleged conspirator struck the man on the head and body with a glass liquor bottle, before the man fell on the floor. Allegedly, it was then that Clemente began to stab the man repeatedly.
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Clemente and an unapprehended man allegedly then chased the 29-year-old man, before grabbing him and punching him in the face and body, and then stabbing him while making homophobic slurs.
According to Gonzalez, the older victim suffered stab wounds, including to his head, buttocks and lung, which caused him to experience a collapsed left lung.
The younger man also suffered multiple stab wounds, including his neck and lungs, causing both lungs to collapse and leading to a 13-day hospitalization.
“This vicious attack on two innocent victims was an intolerable act of anti-gay violence, and today’s sentence sends a strong message that we will vigorously prosecute anyone who commits a hate crime," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Nobody should fear that they’ll be attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and we are committed to vigilantly protecting the rights of Brooklyn’s LGBTQ community.”
