Brazil: Gang arrested for beating gay teen to death with a skateboard
Six people thought to be connected to a string of anti-gay attacks in Brazil have been arrested, after beating a gay teenager to death with a skateboard.
Bruno Borges de Oliveira, 18, was attacked by the group on his way home from a night out in Frei Caneca Street, a gay area of the city.
The group stripped of him of his shoes and phone, before punching, kicking and beating him with a skateboard.
The victim’s friends fled the assault to phone the police and the group were arrested.
One of the friends told police: “When we came back he was already dead.”
The gang of six, aged between 16 and 23, have confessed to the killing,
Police spokesman Ruy Ferraz Fontes told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper: “They chose their victims for being gay. They stole the victim’s belongings as part of a ritual of humiliation.”
Police say the group are suspected of three other attacks on the night that Bruno was killed.
Though Brazil passed same-sex marriage into law last May, homophobic attacks and transphobic attacks are still common in Sao Paulo.
