NEW YORK — Brooklyn
Charges have not yet been announced, although the case is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Those who knew the 28-year-old victim were stunned by the senseless crime and the fact that an argument could turn deadly.
“They were dancing. They were filling up on gas, but they were voguing, doing crazy, I can promise you. I wasn’t there, but I can tell you just from what I saw that’s just how they are. He comes out here and stops the music and just starts dancing and voguing and carrying on,” Sibley’s neighbor and friend Beckenbaur Hamilton said.
Sibley was a man known for his dance moves. On Monday, he was mourned by many who believe he was the victim of a hate crime.
“He shows his colors. He’s not afraid. But he doesn’t go out there and say, ‘Oh, I’m this and that.’ But as soon as you see him you know that’s a proud gay man,” Hamilton said.
Surveillance video showed Sibley involved in a dispute with a group of people outside the Midwood gas station on Saturday night. Witnesses said they were dancing when a man walked up to them and allegedly made homophobic comments. Police said the two groups of people argued, and that’s when one man allegedly stabbed Sibley. One witness, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he tried to break up the argument.
“He pulled out a knife and he just stabbed him and he ran away,” the witness said.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
