Arrested: Alleged Violent NYC Homophobe Who Picked Married West Point Gay Grads To Attack

The NYPD has arrested a man who allegedly attacked a gay couple in a New York City bodega a few weeks ago.

57-year old Thomas Clabough has been arrested for the August 2 attack on a married couple in a NYC bodega. Clabough is being charged with assault as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime, AM NY reports.

Police say Clabough, a Queens, NY resident, walked into the Thompson St. shop in SoHo and yelled homophobic slurs at Larry Lennox-Choate III, and his husband, Daniel Lennox-Choate.

“He left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is,” Larry had written on Facebook of the attack. They add the man punched Daniel in the face.

Larry and Daniel Lennox-Choate met at West Point and are the first male couple to be married there. 

“The hate crimes division of the NYPD is on the case and we have full faith a positive outcome will follow,” Larry wrote. “We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time.”

The couple’s injuries were not severe.

“Aside from one fat lip and a sore punching arm, we are fine,” they wrote on Facebook.

Upon learning the news, the couple offered words of celebration today.

“Good always triumphs over evil. Maybe not on the timeline we’d prefer, but eventually,” reads a post on Larry’s Facebook page. “It’s a good day for freedom. Justice is in the air and it smells damn good.”

One week ago, they thanked “family, friends and strangers, for your concern and support,” and made this request:

We would like to encourage all of you who have felt moved enough to share a link or to send us a message to find some small way to contribute to the positive change we’re all more than ready for when it comes to hate crimes and bullying. It doesn’t even have to be of the LGBTQ variety. Unfortunately, hate comes in countless flavors and each of them stinks. Instead of hashing it out in the comments section of a news article, reach out to your political representatives and call for zero tolerance policies that aim to make good on the promise that all men (and women, of course) actually are created equal in this country.

 

Image via Facebook