Colorado police looking for two men who attacked a man in potential antigay hate crime

Police in Colorado are seeking two men who allegedly beat and kicked a man because of the victim’s sexual identity.

The attack is being investigated as a bias-motivated crime and is part of an increase in reported hate crimes in the state according to local officials and data provided by the FBI.

Aurora Police Department

The unnamed victim was standing in a parking lot in Aurora around noon on Tuesday, February 7, when he was attacked by two men, the Aurora Police Department said in a statement.

Police said the men repeatedly punched the victim in the face and then kicked him in the head as he lay on the ground.

“The victim felt he was specifically targeted because of his sexual orientation,” police continued in the press release, which was posted to social media along with pictures of the two suspects.

Police are looking for two men based on descriptions provided by the victim. The first suspect is a Black male, aged 26 to 30, standing 6’1” tall and weighing about 215 pounds, wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt and blue sweatpants. The second suspect is a Hispanic or mixed-race male, aged 23 to 25, standing 5’11” tall and weighing about 200 pounds, and wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt and black pants.

The pair could be driving a mid-2000s black Nissan Altima.

Aurora Police Department

Colorado law defines a bias-motivated crime as targeting a victim because of their “actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.” Bias-motivated crimes include intimidation and harassment, knowingly causing bodily injury, or knowingly placing a “person in fear of imminent lawless action directed at that person or that person’s property” because of the attacker’s bias.

Bias-motivated crimes based on a victim’s real or perceived sexual or gender identity increased 35 percent in recent years according to the most recent data available from the FBI. Bias-motivated crimes based on sexual identity increased from 49 in 2020 to 71 in 2022. Likewise, bias-motivated crimes based on gender identity increased from 10 in 2020 to 20 in 2022.

Aurora state Sent. Rhonda Fields and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, addressed the rise in bias-motivated crime in a panel discussion with various law enforcement agencies and local advocacy groups held last December, according to Colorado Public Radio. According to Weiser, the actual number of bias-motivated crimes is much higher than reported, and marginalized communities are often impacted the most.

“We recognize that hate crimes are underreported,” Weiser said at the panel discussion. “Hate crimes are often experienced by communities who are afraid to report them.”

Fields noted the personal toll taken on the local community.

“It's become a sense of where people don't feel safe in their community,” Fields said.

Anyone with information on the attack is asked to contact @CrimeStoppersCO at 720.913.7867. All tipsters can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.