A Lesbian couple was beaten by group of men who they accuse of first making rude comments about their sexuality while they were out celebrating their birthdays.
Terrifying scenes captured on video show the couple surrounded by nearly a dozen men, with one woman lying on the floor while another appears to be held back by one of the alleged attackers.
The assault came after one of the men allegedly made a rude comment about Emma MacLean as she was walking in downtown Halifax, Canada, with her girlfriend Tori Hogan after visiting a few bars to celebrate Emma’s birthday on June 22.
Tori, upset about the slur, stood up for Emma and said: ‘Hey, watch your mouth, that’s my girlfriend,’ as she followed the men to confront them, Saltwire reports.
But then the group of about 10 men, which Emma and Tori believe to be of Middle Eastern descent and from Syria, allegedly started beating Tori around 1.30am.
‘I see Tori being pushed on the stairs right in front of the BMO Centre, and they are cement stairs, and she’s on her back – that’s when all the men started punching and kicking them,’ Emma told CTV News.
Emma MacLean, left, and her girlfriend Tori, right, were assaulted by a group of men in downtown Halifax late last month while they were out celebrating one of their birthdays
The group of men, believed to be from Syria, surrounded one woman – while the other struggled to break free from another man’s clutches
Emma MacLean said she suffered a chipped tooth, a broken nose and bruises in the aftermath, while Tori had bruises all over her body
Emma said Tori suffered bruises under her eye and on her arm in the alleged attack
At first, Emma said she yelled at the men to stop, but they ignored her and continued their assault on her girlfriend to the point Tori was ‘basically flying through the air’ as she was getting pushed.
‘All at once they all just swarmed her and started punching and kicking her in the ribs. Then I kind of got into my fight or flight,’ Emma told Saltwire.
She explained that she tried to protect Tori, saying she ‘basically jumped on one of their backs and put them in a chokehold – trying to restrain them.’
But video shows some of the men in the group kicking at one of the women, who was lying on the ground – while the other struggled to break free from another man’s clutches.
Eventually, a bystander alerted police patrolling the area nearby – but by the time the officers arrived, the fight had already ended, according to Emma.
Officers then spoke with one of the men involved in the alleged assault, who reportedly blamed the fight on the two women.
While he gave his ID, the other men involved refused to cooperate with police and identify themselves, according to Emma.
Police told CTV News they are still investigating the incident, and no charges have been brought against the assailants, who Emma and Tori believe to be between the ages of 18 and 24.
Emma said police told her they are hoping to get CCTV footage of the incident, but she said the existing videos taken by witnesses already show the men ‘beating up two girls’.
While Emma said Tori suffered bruises on her arm and under her eye in the attack, she was left with a chipped tooth, a broken nose as well as bruises.
A cop on the scene told MacLean that one of the men blamed the women for the assault, while the others refused to cooperate
Emma said she believes that her and Tori were targets of hate crime due to their attacker’s homophobic comments
MacLean is now asking the public to help identify her assailants
Recounting the incident, Emma said she ‘felt punches and kicks and then I felt it on my nose and there was blood’.
‘I just thought “This needs to stop now,”‘ she added, telling CTV News how her nose was originally too swollen for surgery.
Both Emma and Tori are rugby players and Emma grew up learning mixed martial arts in her father’s gym.
Despite her training, Emma said she surprised herself by not throwing a single punch and instead opting to try and restrain one of the attackers.
‘I put them in a choke hold,’ she said, remembering that both her and the man fell to the ground before she let go after ‘being manhandled’.
She added that the incident left her ‘terrified’ to into downtown in Halifax after something ‘so out of control’ could happen.
Emma said she would have to be in a large group to feel safe enough to go downtown again and that it’s heartbreaking for something like this to happen during Pride Month.
‘Now people will be terrified to hold their partner’s hand walking down the street. It’s just a major setback,’ she told Saltwire.
She said she believes that her and Tori were targets of hate crime due to their attacker’s homophobic comments.
Emma told Saltwire that the men told Tori: ‘You wish you had a dick.’
‘Clearly, they picked her out – she’s a more masculine-presenting lady than I am, so I think they thought they had the go ahead – she was fair game for them,’ she said.
Emma went on to share photos of the men from the night of the attack, and pleaded for anyone with information on the incident or potentially even video footage to come forward.
Halifax Regional Police said in a statement that it was taking incidents ‘motivated by hate toward a specific group very seriously’.
The force also encouraged anyone who ‘find themselves exposed to behavior that is offensive, threatening or intimidating’ to report it to officers.
The statement continued: ‘Even if the investigation does not find criminal wrongdoing in that specific incident, it is important to have it on record as part of the collective effort to identify trends and prevent violence.’