President of Texas oil company arrested over attack on gay couple
A Texas oil executive has been arrested over an alleged attack on a gay couple he branded ‘faggots’.
Anthony Fera, who is the president of Houston-based oil company MidStar Energy, is facing charges of misdemeanour assault, after launching an attack on a gay couple
The incident occurred in Austin in April, when married gay couple Andy Smith and Paul von Wupperfeld were walking down the street.
According to a police report, the pair had a near-miss with Fera’s truck as he exited a car park – sparking the incident.
According to Dallas Voice, Smith called out “You nearly hit us!”, to which Fera replied: “Fuck you, faggot”.
Fera then got out of the truck and exchanged words with the men – before punching Smith and knocking him unconscious.
The Statesman reports that he was arrested June 2 over the incident, and his bail was set at $5,000.
Austin Police Detective Jason Barto said it would be up to the district attorney’s office to decide whether to add hate crime charges to Mr Fera’s assault charges.
His bail was set at $5,000.
