Miami Beach, FL—We may be living through a pandemic, but that didn't stop patrons of a Miami Beach BurgerFi restaurant from unleashing a vicious anti-gay attack last month on a Black gay man simply trying to do his job.
The cashier, Jaquan Walker, 24, tells WSVN News that when he was trying to take their order, the men said several offensive things towards him, leading to the altercation.
“They tell me that I need to put bass in my voice,” he said. “They was saying [expletive]. They just said a whole bunch of things. ‘Oh, we’re going to kill you. Oh, we’ll beat you up. You’re gay. You shouldn’t be gay. How tall are you?'”
Walker said he eventually backed away, but words were exchanged. When he later entered the dining area, he was allegedly jumped.
Miami Beach Police describe the incident on the report as an “anti-gay battery.”
“I had scars on my neck. My arm was bruised,” Walker said. “I still have pain on the side of my ribs, and I have cuts inside my mouth from them kicking me in my mouth and things.”
Cell phone video captured the assault. Adding insult to injury, Walker says he felt "humiliated" and once given the opportunity to defend himself, he reached for a chair and threw it at one of his attackers as he was beginning to exit the restaurant.
“I was so mad. I was embarrassed,” Walker said.
The 24-year-old would then walk over to the nearby Miami Beach Police headquarters after the men left the restaurant, where he would file a criminal complaint.
Despite being the victim of an unprovoked anti-gay attack, Walker says he was terminated from his job at BurgerFi as a result of the assault.
WSVN asked Walker how it made him feel to be treated this way by customers.
“It makes me feel bad. I come to work. I work. I mind my business. I don’t mess with nobody. I was a good worker. I was always there on time. It’s scary because you never know how far it can go.”
In the political climate of Black Lives Matter, where the liberation of all Black people should be the goal, it's not lost on us that Walker's attackers are all Black men. The very type of cishet Black men that Black LGBTQ people support, organize and march in protest for. Are we safe anywhere?
Miami-Dade Police are searching for the men responsible for the assault on Walker.
If you have any information on this battery, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
You can watch WSVNs report here.
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