‘Started Out of Nowhere Physically Assaulting’Â
A 23-year old Tennessee man says he was beaten, punched in the face, and had to go to the emergency room after being asked at the Memphis Zoo if he is gay.Â
Reginald Buckner told WMC Action News 5 that a group of women approached him and his friends and asked if they could borrow his cell phone. After he refused, the women asked if they were gay.
“They just asked all of us were we gay and we were like ‘yeah’ and they say ‘you know you’re going to hell right?’ and I said ‘wow’,” Buckner said.
The women then were joined by a group of men and Buckner and his friends were then verbally and physically attacked.
“They just started out of nowhere physically assaulting,” Buckner told WMC.
Someone noticed one of the women had a gun, and yelled, “gun,” which then led to other zoo visitors running away.
“That’s what made everyone start running away when they had the gun,” Buckner said. “When she lifted up the gun everybody just started running.”Â
Buckner say he’s angry the zoo didn’t do more to protect visitors, and he’s especially angered the zoo did not search anyone to prevent them from bringing a gun into the zoo.
“I am just literally just disgusted by them period. Because of the simple fact that they want to search everyone everywhere else. Why don’t they want to search at the zoo for weapons?” Buckner asked.
In a statement the Memphis Zoo called the attack “an isolated incident,” insisting the “safety of all of our guests is of utmost importance.”
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Image by Unicurse via Wikimedia
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