Suspect Who Attacked Gay Men With Chair Surrenders

The 41-year-old man who was caught on video slamming a chair over the heads of a gay couple in New York City has surrendered to the police, the New York Daily News reports.

Bayna-Lehkiem El-Amin, who is reportedly gay or bi himself, was involved in a violent confrontation May 5 with Jonathan Snipes and Ethan York-Adams at a Chelsea barbecue restaurant. The latter men claim a spilled drink led El-Amin to pepper them with antigay epithets, including "white faggots." El-Amin is now charged with assault and attempted assault.

While evading police, the oft-arrested El-Amin gave an interview to the blog G List Society (the post has since been deleted), claiming Snipes and York-Adams were fighting and it was threatening to spill over to a nearby table of women. El-Amin said he asked them to stop and a fight escalated, with him being attacked by the couple. The infamous video of El-Amin slamming a chair over the heads of Snipes and York-Adams conflicts with that account, since the couple were walking away from El-Amin before he ran at them with the chair. The couple refused medical treatment after the fracas because they lacked health insurance.

El-Amin told G List Society he's "the victim" of a "racist gay media" and also took aim at politicians such as out New York City Council member Corey Johnson, who previously referred to El-Amin as homophobic.