Middle Village Man Faces Up to 15 Years Behind Bars For Anti-Gay Attack

Google Maps Image on Metropolitan Bar on Lorimer Street. Photo via Google Maps.

By Christina Carrega

A 25-year-old Middle Village man was indicted on Wednesday for viciously attacking and spewing homophobic slurs at two men who were innocently walking from a Williamsburg bar.

Brandon McNamara and several unknown people were walking on Metropolitan Avenue on Sept. 23, as were two men exited the Metropolitan Bar on Lorimer Street.

McNamara allegedly caught up with the 29- and 30-year-old men and called them “fa---ts” before knocking one of them unconscious. The second man was also grabbed and thrown to the ground, losing consciousness, prosecutors said.

“This defendant allegedly assaulted an innocent couple simply because he perceived they were gay,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “Crimes that target individuals because of their sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or other identity are a threat to everything we stand for here in Brooklyn.”

Good Samaritans passing by the attack called 911 when they saw the two men unconscious on the ground, prosecutors said. Both men were taken to Woodhull Hospital for treatment for a fracture and dislocated left shoulder and a broken finger, respectively.

McNamara turned himself in to police on Sept. 26 after his photograph, taken by a witness, was circulated to the media by the NYPD.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun arraigned McNamara on an indictment where the top charge is second-degree assault as a hate crime and set at $15,000. If convicted, McNamara faces up to 15 years in prison.