NEW YORK – Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Bedford-Stuyvesant man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder as a hate crime in connection with an anti-gay attack against two men at a Bushwick bodega was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Both victims were assaulted and stabbed and suffered numerous injuries, including collapsed lungs.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This vicious attack on two innocent victims was an intolerable act of anti-gay violence, and today’s sentence sends a strong message that we will vigorously prosecute anyone who commits a hate crime. Nobody should fear that they’ll be attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and we are committed to vigilantly protecting the rights of Brooklyn’s LGBTQ community.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Christopher Clemente, 38, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today to 10 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, who also issued a full order of protection for the victims. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime on January 25, 2023.
The case against Clemente’s co-defendant, Jonathan Carter, 33, of Ocean Hill, Brooklyn remains pending.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, at approximately 2:10 a.m., on September 4, 2021, inside of a bodega located at 1559 Broadway in Bushwick, the victims, a 36-year-old man and a 29-year-old man, were waiting for food when the defendants allegedly made a series of homophobic slurs directed at the victims.
Clemente then repeatedly punched the 36-year-old man in the face and Carter then allegedly repeatedly struck him about the head and body with a glass liquor bottle, causing him to fall to the floor. Furthermore, Clemente then repeatedly stabbed the 36-year-old in the head and body.
Finally, Clemente and an unapprehended man chased after the 29-year-old victim, grabbing him, and Clemente punched him about the face and body while also stabbing him and continuing to make homophobic slurs.
The older victim suffered multiple stab wounds to his body, including his head, buttocks and lung, causing a collapsed left lung.
The younger victim suffered multiple stab wounds to his body, including neck and lungs, causing both lungs to collapse and was hospitalized for 13 days.
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