A man was allegedly attacked by a mob
while trying to defend a gay couple who were being chased after
Saturday's Utah Pride Festival in Salt Lake City.
According to FOX
13, the mob shouted homophobic slurs as they chased the couple
into a downtown ice cream shop, where a worker tried to protect them.
The mob attacked the worker, who
suffered a cut on his face.
Detective Greg Wilking said that the
incident occurred at around 10:30 PM. He said that a group of
between seven and 15 men approached the male couple from an alley.
One witness described the group as
“very clean cut, you know, like blond haired, blue eyed typical
Utah 20-year-old boys.”
“It's 2018, why are we still acting
like this?” Terrace Mannery, the worker whom the group of men
attacked, rhetorically asked.
On Tuesday, the Utah Gay and Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce (UGLCC) announced it was offering a $5,000 reward
for information leading to an arrest and prosecution.
“The UGLCC's anti-violence fund was
created to provide the victims of homophobic or trans-phobic crimes
and to provide resources for the prosecution of perpetrators of such
crimes,” the group said in a statement.