Man Who Attacked N.Y. Gay Couple With Chair Found Guilty

Bayna Lekhiem El-Amin brutally assaulted two men last year but claimed self-defense. A jury didn't buy it.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

Read Full Bio

Neal Broverman

May 26 2016 11:37 AM EST

May 26 2016 12:01 PM EST

Nbroverman

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

A 42-year-old gay man was convicted Wednesday of two counts of first-degree attempted assault and two counts of second-degree assault in a fracas involving two other gay men, the New York Daily News reports.

Ethan Adams and Jonathan Snipes were eating at the Dallas BBQ restaurant in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood last May when an argument ensued between them and Bayna Lekhiem El-Amin, allegedly over a drink accidentally spilled by the gay couple. Adams and Snipes said El-Amin peppered them with homophobic slurs before he became violent. A cell-phone video, which went viral, shows El-Amin smashing a wooden chair over Adams's head, which knocked him unconscious. Snipes says El-Amin stomped on his head and back while calling him slurs. El-Amin then fled the restaurant, but turned himself in to police custody the next month.

El-Amin -- who is 6 foot 6 and weighs 280 pounds -- claimed he used the chair because the men were attacking him and he feared for his life. The video seemed to dispute his claim, though he said it was edited to support their assertions. El-Amin had also lashed out at gay New York City Council member Corey Johnson and the "racist gay media" for painting the story as a homophobic attack when El-Amin himself is gay. El-Amin filed his own suit against Adams and Snipes, though it's not clear where it currently stands.