Teenager beaten up on bus by man shouting ‘you f***ing queer’
A teenager was allegedly beaten up on a bus in Bristol in a homophobic attack by a man yelling anti-gay slurs.
Kydis Zellinger, 18, was attacked by the unidentified man on Monday night (October 15).
Police are treating the incident as a hate crime and have arrested a 27-year old man in connection with the assault, reports Bristol Live.
Zellinger posted about the incident on Facebook, explaining that it happened on the number 76 bus.
The teenager said a man came upstairs on the bus, “aggressively” telling the 18-year old: “You little f***ing Queer who do you think you’re getting mouthy to [sic]?!”
Zellinger wrote: “I replied: ‘What, when?!’ Obviously really confused because I didn’t understand what was going on, before I could even reply he proceeded to punch me straight in the face and walk away toward the back of the bus. I was stunned and didn’t even know how to process what just happened.”
The 18-year old said that the man walked off, before coming back and shouting more anti-gay slurs. He then proceeded to hit Zellinger again.
The teenager added: “[He] got in front of me so I couldn’t move and repeatedly punched me from behind, and then from in front. I fell backward on the chairs to try and protect my head but I couldn’t get him off of me.”
Zellinger added that a woman, who was with the man, then intervened and restrained the perpetrator.
The 18-year old sale assistant said no-one else on the bus helped during the attack.
“The attack was completely unprovoked, unnecessary and cruel. To be called a gay queer amongst other homophobic slurs just proves what kind of attack this was,” Zellinger said.
“I’m leaving the issue in the hands of the police for now, and I just hope he gets bought to justice so he cannot do this to anybody else.”
Zellinger went on to praise people for their support since the attack.
“I just want to say that I am truly and beyond thankful to every single person for all the support, I will do my best to get back to all of you as soon as I can,” Zellinger continued.
“You guys truly don’t understand how much this means to me, thank you all for the endless support and love, you’re all incredible and there are no words to describe how much I appreciate it.”
PinkNews has contacted Zellinger for comment.