Gay dads and their daughter chased and attacked in Father’s Day incident

Two gay dads and their daughter were chased down the street and physically and verbally attacked by a man during a Father’s Day trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Husbands Michael Drennan and Matthew Kisner say that they had taken their daughter to Albuquerque for the day to see the Rail Yards Market, but weren’t long off the train before they had to call 911.

“The idea was to have a nice Father’s Day outing with one of my daughters and my husband. Because there are two fathers in our family, it’s kind of a big day for us,” Drennan told local news network KOB4.

The couple allege that, shortly after setting foot in Albuquerque, they were attacked by homeless man Jordan Salazar, 26, who followed the family from the train station, yelling after them and calling out homophobic slurs. Salazar then allegedly hit one of the fathers in the head with a metal broomstick.

“This homeless guy like, attacked us. He hit us with a pole. He’s following us. He’s aggressive. He’s cursing, he’s screaming. My daughter’s scared,” Kisner told police dispatch at the time of the attack, on 18 June 2023.

Recalling the 911 call, Drennan told KOB4: “My husband who’s on the phone talking to the police, or the 911 dispatcher is kind of relaying to them the things that he’s saying. And at that point, my husband saying, you know, ‘he’s calling us f****, you know, he wants to try and figure out why two men are with my daughter.’”

Police cam footage from the aftermath of the incident shows the moment that Drennan and Kisner realised Salazar was known to the officers.

While the suspect was being handcuffed, one officer can be heard asking: “Jordan what’s going on bro?”

When a second officer asked: “You know Jordan?”, the first replied: “Yeah, I 16’d him last week.”

Elsewhere in the police footage, the shaken couple can be heard asking if this incident would be investigated as a federal hate crime.

Kisner is heard telling police: “I feel like if the definition of a hate crime was motivated by anti-gay bias, then yes, I feel like this was a hate crime.”

The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office were approached by KOB 4 for an update on whether or not this case was being treated as a hate crime, as Kisner and Drennan had asked.

A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office stated that, for now, Drennan and Kisner’s case is on hold, after Salazar’s defence attorney raised questions about his competency. 

Salazar is now being mentally evaiuated before they can move forward with the case.