Doctor’s mouth wired shut for a month after thug broke his jaw while shouting homophobic slur
Sina Rezaie, who is a doctor, says he was called a homophobic slur and brutally attacked from behind after getting off a train in Greenwich Village, New York City on 3 July 2021. (NBC New York)
A New York City doctor was left needing emergency surgery for a broken jaw after being beaten by a man shouting homophobic hate.
Sina Rezaie told NBC New York that he was walking home from the subway in Greenwich Village in New York City early Saturday (3 July) morning when a man yelled a homophobic slur at him.
“He called me a [homophobic slur], and then half a block later, he came from behind and kicked and punched me multiple times,” Rezaie told the outlet from his hospital bed.
The doctor was left with a broken jaw in two places. According to the news outlet, his jaw has been “banded shut with screws and metal plates” and will need to remain shut to heal for about a month.
Rezaie said that he “always felt safe” in the neighbourhood before the attack. “I don’t know why this happened to me,” he added.
After the attack, Rezaie stumbled towards a nearby bar where two of his friends, Laurie Beck and Richard Delay, were working, seeking help.
Beck told NBC New York she saw Rezaie “walking outside kind of erratically” and looking “distressed”.
Delay went outside and saw their friend “holding his mouth” as “blood [was] running out”.
He told NBC New York: “[Rezaie] said that he had gotten attacked by some guy who said something to him as he came off the train.
“Apparently, the guy called him a [homophobic] slur and then threw him to the ground and started kicking him repeatedly.”
NBC New York reported that there are security cameras throughout the area where the attack occurred, but New York City police have not yet caught any suspects.
