An assault of a gay man between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday morning is raising questions about the attack’s motivations.

Syracuse University spokesman Kevin Morrow said two Syracuse University students and their friend were walking home on Comstock Avenue when they encountered two women and two men, one of whom began to harass the first group.

The man allegedly began calling the first group ‘fags,’ Morrow said.

When the friend of the two SU students tried to stop the man’s harassment, the harasser ‘snapped’ and threw the man to the ground and began beating him, Morrow said.

The first group, including the victim, ran away and called 911, Morrow said.

The victim’s wounds included cuts and bruises to the face, said Jennifer Spinner, sophomore policy studies and women’s studies major and advocacy coordinator for Pride Union.

The Team Against Bias and the Department of Public Safety will hold a meeting tomorrow morning regarding the university’s response to the incident, Morrow said.

‘No one should feel that they have the right to assault another person,’ Morrow said.

Published on September 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm