Arrest in Latest Anti-Gay Attack

A suspect was arrested Wednesday, May 22, in an assault in the East Village that police say was one of several anti-gay attacks in recent days. Gornell Roman was arrested on charges of assault and aggravated harassment in regard to attacks on Monday, May 20, both as hate crimes.

Roman is accused of yelling an anti-gay remark and attacking a drinking companion on Monday. Roman and the victim, Dan Contarino, lived at a nearby homeless shelter.

Police said two men were walking in lower Manhattan Tuesday morning when two other men yelled homophobic slurs in Spanish and attacked them. Two suspects were arrested on hate crime assault charges.

Mark Carson was killed Saturday, May18, as he walked with a companion through Greenwich Village. Police say a man charged with murder as a hate crime shot Carson just blocks from the Stonewall Inn, where riots sparked the modern gay-rights movement in 1969.

Following the deadly shooting, officials said police would increase their presence there and in nearby neighborhoods through the end of June, Gay Pride Month.

Carson's shooting came after reports of several other anti-gay attacks in recent weeks. Those include an assault on two men who were walking arm-in-arm near Madison Square Garden on May 5, police said.