A gay man accused a group of Washington, D.C., Shake Shack employees of beating him after he kissed his boyfriend inside the location while waiting for their order.
Christian Dingus, 28, was with his partner and a group of friends at a Dupont Circle location Saturday night when the incident occurred, he told NBC News. They had put in their order and were hanging around waiting for their food.
“And while we were back there — kind of briefly — we began to kiss,” Dingus said. “And at that point, a worker came out to us and said that, you know, you can’t be doing that here, can’t do that type of stuff here.”
The couple separated, Dingus said, but his partner got upset at the employee and insisted the men had done nothing wrong. Dingus’ partner was then allegedly escorted out of the restaurant, where a heated verbal argument occurred.
Dingus said that when he defended his partner, insisting the employees not speak to his boyfriend that way, the employees who went outside turned to him.
“And then one of the men, pretty forcefully, like, pushed me out of the way on my shoulder,” Dingus said. “And then, you know, next thing I know, that kind of just, I think, sparked the rest of them. … They all just kind of started attacking me at that point, dragging me back through the floor and continuously punching me in my head.”
Video of the alleged assault taken by a Shake Shack patron and later given to Dingus appears to show a man being shoved as two others in black Shake Shack T-shirts punch at his head. Two more people appear, also in Shake Shack shirts, but it’s unclear what follows.
The clip is 30 seconds long, recorded through windows from inside the restaurant. It does not show what led to the alleged assault or include audio of the men outside.
“There was a desire to be violent towards me, and I think it’s very evident in that film,” Dingus said.
Dingus said he wasn’t sure who broke up the attack as he curled up on the ground to protect himself. He said that a woman who was a patron at the location came out to help him and that someone who recorded the attack offered him a video of the incident, including the one posted online.
He saw police officers nearby afterward, but they were not involved until after the assault ended, Dingus said. Dingus later described the incident to police.
Police are investigating the case as a hate crime and have classified the offense alleged by Dingus as a simple assault, with an anti-gay bias motivation, according to a copy of the police report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the document, an officer wrote that Dingus reported being assaulted by multiple people and that an unnamed suspect said he was defending himself after Dingus put his hands on the person’s neck.
A Shake Shack spokesperson said that the team members involved have been suspended pending further review and that the company is cooperating with authorities.
“We are aware of the incident on Saturday, Aug. 17 involving team members and a guest at our Dupont Circle location and are taking it very seriously,” the spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.
The spokesperson added that the company is “committed to taking the appropriate actions” based on the findings of the investigation.
Dingus said that shortly after the alleged attack, he went to the emergency room, where, he said, he was diagnosed with a concussion and trauma to his jaw. The side of his face was swollen and bruised, he added.
Dupont Circle is considered one of Washington’s popular and trendy neighborhoods and is advertised as being queer-friendly. Destination DC, an organization that markets the city’s tourism destinations, even lists Dupont Circle locations in its guide to a “Best LGBTQ+-Friendly Weekend.”
The incident has shaken Dingus’ sense of safety, and he said he wants to see the perpetrators held accountable.
“You hear all the time that this stuff happens, but, you know, I started kind of believing that it didn’t, right?” Dingus said. “I’ve been … thinking of progress and how great that community is here, and then for that all to kind of be shattered, you know, kind of sucks.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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