A homophobic gunman shot and killed a 32-year-old man at point-blank range after he unleashed a series of anti-gay slurs at the victim on a Greenwich Village street. Mark Carson, 32, was killed after a gay-bashing assailant asked whether the man he was with was his boyfriend. Carson didn’t hesitate and told the man yes, according to reports. (NYDailyNews)
Elliot Morales, 33, called Carson a ‘f*****’ and a ‘queer‘ when he confronted him and his 31-year-old partner on a busy street on Friday night. When Carson responded ‘Yes,’ Morales allegedly pulled out of a silver Taurus .38-caliber pistol and shot Carson once at point-blank range. The bullet struck Carson in the cheek. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he died. (MailOnline)
Yesterday, Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin released the following statement regarding a string of hate crimes in New York City, including the hate-motivated shooting death of Mark Carson this weekend:
When an innocent person can be beaten or killed simply on the basis of their identity, something is profoundly sick and wrong. There’s not an LGBT person who didn’t hear about this horrendous murder and think: ‘that could have been me. As long as discrimination remains a feature of this nation’s laws, as long as second class citizenship trickles down into our schools and our communities, these crimes and the terror they instill will never stop. We pledge liberty and justice for all, but every one of us has a duty to make those words a reality. We can’t be patient and simply wait for equality, because the next Mark Carson is running out of time right now. Equality is an urgent fight–a fight that continues until our nation’s laws treat all our citizens equally, with respect and dignity, in all parts of our lives. This is a fight that involves all Americans who believe in civil rights and equality for every citizen. Our thoughts and prayers are with victims’ families, and we thank the police and other agencies for their full and ongoing investigation of these heinous acts.
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