Attack on Gay Texan Linked to Social Networking App

Arron Keahey says he was beaten by a man he met via the MeetMe app.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Read Full Bio

Trudy Ring

September 24 2013 2:26 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

trudestress

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 young gay Texan was brutally beaten by a man he met via a social networking phone app called MeetMe, a San Antonio TV station reports.

Arron Keahey, 24, of Springtown, a community near Fort Worth, went to meet the man in person about an hour after contacting him via the app, believing the man was gay or bisexual, station KENS reported Monday. The encounter occurred Labor Day.

Keahey told police and the media that when he arrived at the home of 18-year-old Brice Johnson, Johnson began attacking him almost immediately. "He started getting all frustrated and talking all angrily," Keahey told KENS. "I don't remember anything after that."

Keahey, however, emerged with injuries including broken facial bones, which required surgical repair, and nerve damage. He also had several teeth knocked out.

Johnson called Springtown police and told them he had found Keahey in the trunk of a car parked outside his home and had taken him to be treated for his injuries. The police later arrested Johnson, though, and he is charged with aggravated assault, causing serious bodily injury. He says he does not recall attacking Keahey.

Police are investigating the assault as a possible hate crime. "I've been up here altogether 10 years, and this is the first hate crime or possible hate crime that I've investigated," said Lt. Curtis Stone of the Springtown police.