A 22-year-old man was assaulted Thursday afternoon in Jenfeld, in eastern Hamburg, in an act of queerphobia, and he was injured as a result. The city’s police announced the information. Two suspects were taken into custody provisionally, and police are now seeking additional witnesses.
According to the Criminal Police’s current findings, the 22-year-old had just left a grocery store when he was approached by someone from a group on Dahlemer Ring. The unknown individuals then subjected the man to anti-queer hostility, kicked him, and struck him. The group stole the 22-year-old’s backpack, which contained personal items, and initially fled undetected.
The alerted officers conducted extensive search operations with around a dozen patrol cars, and in that process detained a 16-year-old Bosnian and a 17-year-old German who, as things stand, appear to belong to the group.
The 22-year-old was lightly injured in the robbery and treated by emergency medical responders. He was not admitted to a hospital. The two juvenile suspects were released at the scene after the police processing was completed.
Later that evening, the investigations were taken over by the state protection unit responsible for hate crimes. This is standard procedure in cases of offenses carried out out of queerphobia.
Police request public assistance
The police are now seeking witnesses who may have observed something or who can provide information about additional suspects. People are asked to contact the Hamburg Police tip line at (040) 4286-56789 or reach out to any police station.
The Hamburg Police had announced a breakthrough earlier on Thursday in connection with a queerphobic crime: they temporarily detained two violent, homophobic brothers aged 16 and 18 who allegedly attacked men because of queerphobia (TheColu.mn reported).
