BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that two men have been indicted for attempted murder as a hate crime and other charges in connection with an alleged anti-gay attack against two men at a Bushwick bodega. Both victims were assaulted and stabbed and suffered numerous injuries, including collapsed lungs.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The two victims in this case suffered serious and life-threatening injuries in a completely unprovoked attack. The defendants’ actions were particularly egregious as they allegedly attacked two innocent people because they believed them to be gay. No one should be targeted because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or religion. We must all be able to safely walk the streets of our city without fear of being senselessly attacked.”
The District Attorney identified the defendants as Christopher Clemente, 37, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and Jonathan Carter, 31, of Ocean Hill, Brooklyn. Carter was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 26-count indictment in which both are variously charged with second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree assault as a hate crime, and related charges. His bail was set at $10,000 and he was ordered to return to court on December 10, 2021. Clemente, who’s being held on $150,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond, will be arraigned next week.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, at approximately 2:10 a.m., on September 4, 2021, inside of a bodega located at 1559 Broadway in Bushwick, the victims, a 36-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, were waiting for food when the defendants both made a series of homophobic slurs directed at the victims.
Clemente then allegedly repeatedly punched the 36-year-old man in the face and Carter then allegedly repeatedly struck him about the head and body with a glass liquor bottle, causing him to fall to the floor. Furthermore, it is alleged, Clemente then repeatedly stabbed the 36-year-old in the head and body.
Finally, it is alleged, Clemente and an unapprehended man chased after the 29-year-old victim, grabbing him, and Clemente repeatedly stabbed the younger man while making homophobic slurs.
The older victim suffered multiple stab wounds to his body, including head, buttocks and lung, causing a collapsed left lung.
The younger victim suffered multiple stab wounds to his body, including neck and lungs, causing both lungs to collapse.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Samantha Perlstein, of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Bureau Chief.