A Keller Williams agent in Oklahoma was beaten unconscious Saturday by two people who, he said, used homophobic slurs during the assault.
The attack against Christian Council took place just after 2 a.m. Saturday morning in Oklahoma City, according to a police report obtained by Inman. The report states Council was leaving his vehicle to go inside when a man and a woman “aggressively approached” him. The two people yelled and pushed Council, the report states, and the man eventually punched him in the face several times.
The report identifies the alleged attackers as Bennet Stone and Amery Dickerson, and they now face misdemeanor charges related to assault. The report adds that they were both “extremely intoxicated.”
Though the report does not mention homophobic language, Council told local news station KFOR that the assailants asked if he and his friend were a couple, then repeatedly used slurs during the incident. He also said that the attack “sure felt like a hate crime.”
“It was clear that when they could tell my friend and I were gay, or that we appeared to be gay, they knew that they could do what they did to me,” Council said.
Council also told KFOR that he tried to fight back, but that the assault didn’t end until his “arms fell to my sides and I was totally unconscious.”
“I’ll never forget the feeling of my neck snapping back and forth every time he would hit either side of my head,” Council said.
Photos shared with KFOR show cuts and swelling on Council’s face.
Credit: KFOR
The report does say that Council’s friend corroborated his version of events. Oklahoma City Police Msgt. Gary Knight additionally told KFOR that when officers arrived on the scene Council was lying on the ground and the suspects were still there.
Council did not immediately respond to Inman’s request for comment Wednesday.
The incident happened in the final days of June, which is designated as Pride Month to celebrate the LGBT community. It also came just days before another Keller Williams agent, Bobby Calmes in Georgia, was fired for making a series of anti-LGBT comments on his Facebook page.
For its part, Keller Williams has recently joined other large brokerages in supporting a proposed law that would ban housing discrimination against LGBT people nationwide.
As for Council, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the costs of his medical and legal fees. The fundraising effort has a goal of $15,000 and as of Wednesday afternoon had raised more than $8,000 from 140 donors.