A gay man accused a group of Shake Shack employees in Washington, DC of beating him after he kissed his boyfriend in the business while waiting for their order.
Christian Dingus, 28, was with his partner and a group of friends at a Dupont Circle location Saturday night when the incident occurred, he told NBC News. They had placed their orders and were hanging out waiting for their food.
“And while we were there — kind of briefly — we started kissing,” Dingus said. “And at that point an employee came up to us and said, you know, you can’t do that here, you can’t do that kind of stuff here.”
The couple broke up, Dingus said, but his partner became angry with the employee and insisted the men had done nothing wrong. Dingus’ partner was then reportedly escorted out of the restaurant, where a heated verbal altercation ensued.
Dingus said that when he defended his partner and insisted that the employees should not speak to his friend that way, the employees who walked out turned on him.
“And then one of the guys pushed me pretty forcefully on my shoulder,” Dingus said. “And then, you know, the next thing I know, that’s what, I think, set off the rest of them. … They all started attacking me at that point, pulling me back through the floor and just hitting me in the head.”
Video of the alleged attack, taken by a Shake Shack customer and later given to Dingus, appears to show a man being pushed while two others in black Shake Shack T-shirts beat him over the head. Two more people, also in Shake Shack T-shirts, appear to appear, but it’s unclear what happens next.
The clip is 30 seconds long and was shot through windows from inside the restaurant. It does not show what led up to the alleged attack and there is no audio of the men outside.
“There was a drive to be violent towards me, and I think that’s very clear in that film,” Dingus said.
Dingus said he wasn’t sure who stopped the attack as he lay on the ground trying to protect himself. He said a woman who was a patron at the location came outside to help him and that someone who had recorded the attack offered him video of the incident, including the video that was posted online.
He saw police officers nearby afterward, but they didn’t get there until after the attack was over, Dingus said. Dingus later described the incident to police.
Police are investigating the case as a hate crime and have classified the offense Dingus alleges as simple assault with an anti-gay motive, according to a copy of the police report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the document, an officer wrote that Dingus indicated he had been attacked by several people and that an unnamed suspect said he defended himself after Dingus placed his hands on the person’s neck.
A Shake Shack spokesperson said the team members involved have been suspended pending further investigation and that the company is cooperating with authorities.
“We are aware of the incident on Saturday, August 17 involving team members and a guest at our Dupont Circle location and take it very seriously,” the spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.
The spokesperson added that the company is “committed to taking appropriate action” based on the investigation’s findings.
Dingus said he went to the emergency room shortly after the alleged attack, where he said he suffered a concussion and jaw trauma. The side of his face was swollen and bruised, he added.
Dupont Circle is considered one of Washington’s most popular and trendy neighborhoods, and is advertised as queer-friendly. Destination DC, an organization that markets the city’s tourist destinations, even lists Dupont Circle locations in its guide to a “Best LGBTQ+-Friendly Weekend.”
The incident has shaken Dingus’ sense of security and he said he wants the perpetrators held accountable.
“You hear about these things happening all the time, but I started to believe that it wasn’t, right?” Dingus said. “I’ve been … thinking about the progress and how great the community is here, and then for it to all be kind of destroyed, you know, it sucks.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
