US: Atlanta man surrenders to police after punching cyclist and calling him ‘faggot’
An Atlanta man has turned himself in to police, after attacking a cyclist and branding him a “faggot”.
According to WSB, multiple witnesses saw Michael Sanders attack cyclist Quinn Chrzan on an Atlanta cycle path, punching him repeatedly while shouting homophobic slurs.
The video was also caught on CCTV, and Atlanta Police Department say their Video Integration Centre captured the incident.
24-year-old Chrzan, who is not gay, said: “Right when I was about to pass him, he just stopped and he looked at me and called me a faggot.
“I had no idea what I did to set him off. There’s a bunch of witnesses.
“I was pinned against the wall and my hand was sliced up so, there was nothing I could do… He just punched me in the face.”
“He kept calling me homophobic slurs and all I said to him was, ‘Please don’t use homophobic slurs’.”
Sanders was arrested and charged with battery after he turned himself in Wednesday, but was released today on a $5000 (£2977) bond.
Chrzan added: “[Police] were trying to figure out if it was a possible hate crime. They’re not sure since it didn’t seem like he was targeting me.”
Georgia currently has no law protecting LGBT people from discrimination or hate crimes, but the incident could be covered by federal hate crime laws.
Last week, two trans women were beaten and stripped on an Atlanta train, while onlookers filmed.
Two men were arrested in connection with the attack, though one claims he ‘panicked’ when the women came on to him.
