New Video Raises Questions About Dallas BBQ Attack

A new video is raising questions about an alleged hate-motivated crime that took place in New York earlier this year.

Gay couple Ethan York-Adams and Jonathan Snipes told reporters they were the victims of an attack in May at the Dallas BBQ restaurant in Chelsea.

The couple said they were assaulted after Snipes accidentally spilled a drink while exiting the restaurant. He said he had received a text message informing him of a death in the family, which was the reason for his haste.

According to Snipes, the situation escalated quickly after he confronted a diner, Bayna El-Amin, for calling them "white faggots." Snipes said El-Amin pushed him to the floor and kicked him, then smashed a chair over the couple's heads after they tried to retreat.

A video of the incident posted to social media shortly after the incident shows a crowd of people trying to restrain El-Amin and the subsequent attack with the piece of furniture.

El-Amin fled the scene before police and medical assistance arrived, but he turned himself in to the police in June after the media firestorm that ensued when Snipes told his side of the story to DNAInfo. El-Amin was charged with two counts of felony assault and attempted assault.

Declaring he was "the victim" of a "racist gay media," El-Amin, who is reportedly gay, offered a counternarrative to the blog G List Society. "I can definitely confirm that I did not say anything that was directed toward his race or sexual orientation," he maintained.

He also said that it was Snipes who started the altercation, hitting him in the head with a "heavy blunt object" after El-Amin requested that Snipes cease a noisy argument with his partner. Throwing the chair, he said, was a means to "facilitate an exit" from his attacker.

A new video posted by G List Society, which appears to be security footage from the restaurant, also casts doubt on Snipes's story. The footage begins at an earlier point in the altercation than prior videos posted to social media, one of which showed a looped feed of El-Amin hitting the couple with a chair.

The new video shows the preceding moments, including Snipes in a heated discussion with his boyfriend. Afterward, it appears to show him strike El-Amin, although the view is partially obscured by a column.

Watch the video below.