‘Gay Move Die’ Spray Painted Onto Car
A Richmond, Virginia man suffering an asthma attack was forced to spend the night in a local hospital after seeing what appears to be an anti-gay death threat spray painted on his car. The words were clear: “GAY MOVE DIE.”
Local ABC affiliate WRIC reports police are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
“The Richmond Police Department stands with the LGBTQ community in condemning what happened last night,†Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham told WRIC. “I have directed the Department’s LGBTQ liaison, Captain Dan Minton, to monitor the progress of the investigation to keep everyone informed.â€
VA Pride President James Milner in an email to WRIC “said this is the first attack on the LGBT community in years and that they, ‘won’t stand for this.'” Â
“This was certainly not done by a random graffiti artist,” Millner told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “This man is known to be gay and the message on the car says Gay Move Die – it’s a death threat. That’s not random graffiti trying to be destructive.”
“The fact that Chief Durham himself has inserted himself into this should be an indication as to how seriously the Richmond police are taking this,” Millner said. “And also the swiftness with which they elevated this to a hate crime – which was a matter of hours after it was brought to their attention – is also significant. So there seems to be no hesitation.”
The victim, whose name has not been named, was released from the hospital Wednesday morning.
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.
Hat tip: Towleroad
If you find NCRM valuable, would you please consider making a donation to support our independent journalism?
Â