Atlanta police are investigating whether the 19-year-old man accused of stabbing five people at a New Year's Eve party in the Atlanta neighborhood of Reynoldstown may have been the target of an anti-gay slur during a confrontation at the late-night celebration.
The suspect is identified by Atlanta police as Luke O'Donovan. The stabbing occurred sometime after 3 a.m. on New Year's Day at 239 Gibson St., Atlanta Police Department Spokesperson Carlos Campos told GA Voice today.
In total, six were injured, including O'Donovan. Several of the victims were transported to local hospitals, Campos added.
The Alabama lesbian that was brutally beaten during a Thanksgiving dinner at her girlfriend's father's home now claims that the attack was not a hate crime.
Mallory Owens, 23, was attacked by her girlfriend's brother Travis Hawkins, Jr., Thursday, Nov. 22, at the home of her girlfriend.
Hawkins was charged with second degree assault but because Alabama does not include gender identity or sexual orientation in the state's hate crime legislation, the crime cannot be classified as a hate crime, at least not through Alabama's laws. The FBI is also investigating the attack and could still recommend that Hawkins be charged with a hate crime under existing federal laws.