Miami Beach Police are searching for four men who were caught on tape assaulting a gay couple in South Beach following Sunday's Miami Beach Gay Pride parade.
According to a redacted police incident report, the couple, Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov, were standing near restrooms when four men approached them seemingly at random and hurled anti-gay slurs at them in Spanish. The couple was knocked to the ground and violently punched and kicked.
A good Samaritan, later identified as Helmut Muller Estrada, attempted to break up the fight and was also knocked to the ground and injured. Estrada suffered a laceration to the back of his head, and there was a "pool of blood" where he fell, according to the incident report.
Charlaca and Logunov also sustained injuries, with the incident report stating Charlaca had a laceration on his right eyebrow, as well as visible injuries to his mouth and the side of his head. Logunov, according to the report, had redness on the right side of his face.
"We probably provoked them because we were walking together, holding hands. It was gay pride, South Beach was full of gay people," Logunov told NBC Miami.
Charlaca told NBC Miami it was his first time to attend a pride event. "Why, why us?" he asked. "Why is this happening, especially here in Miami?"
Florida International University put out a tweet after one of the attackers was seen wearing an FIU sweatshirt in the footage. "FIU stands for tolerance, diversity and inclusion," the tweet said.
