Teens Attack Gay Couple, Wreck Apartment in France
A gay couple in Montpellier, France were harassed and attacked by a group of teens who inflicted heavy damage on their apartment, reports France Bleu.
The couple was enjoying cigarettes in the window of their apartment around 7 p.m. on Aug. 8 when two teenagers who were passing by suddenly asked if they might have some hashish. When the men responded they did not, the teens asked whether they were gay and, hearing that they were, hurled violent threats, telling the men, "We are going to burn you."
France Bleu writes: "A violent altercation ensues in front of the door of the building. One of the assailants suffered minor head injuries." The two teens then left — but that wasn't the end of it. A short time later, the two were back with a couple of friends, including a person of adult age who joined in as the quartet invaded the men's apartment.
"The quartet stormed into the apartment, broke open the front door, and smashed the glass in the window with beer bottles, destroying the furniture and the television," reported news site actu.fr. The site went on to describe "A scene of incredible violence" that unfolded "before the eyes of the tenants, who took refuge in the bathroom with two friends who came to the rescue on hearing the noise" of the attack. The men and their friends had been "roughed up" when they sought refuge in the bathroom.
When the small mob of teens left, it was having demolished the apartment. They stole a video game console, an Armani watch, and shoes, reports said. Police apprehended them at a nearby tram stop. The adult was already known to the police, reports said. All four were from out of town and had come to Montpellier on vacation.
The quartet has been charged with bias crimes, property damage, theft, and making death threats, reports said.