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Suspect Named In Homophobic Beating In London, Ontario

09/17/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
On 8 September, Brandon Wright was savagely beaten by a man who gave his name as “Alex”. Wright, a modeling agent and events promoter, received a text from “Alex” asking to meet him in order to help him launch a modeling career. Wright met with “Alex” who stated that he came from Thunder Bay, but decided that “Alex” did not have the looks to break into modeling and informed him that he could not be of help.

“Alex” then lured Wright into his black Ford 150 pickup truck and sped off. The six-foot tall “Alex” then began to beat Wright with a long heavy object severely injuring Wright. While doing so, “Alex” continued to hurl anti-gay expletives at Wright. While the truck was still moving at speed, Wright jumped from the cab in front of an astonished group of people who came to his aid.

According to Wright, “Alex” kept yelling “Because you’re gay you need to be punished, I’m going to fucking kill you, and you’re a faggot,” and “I’m going to fucking kill you faggot.” Wright suffered multiple lacerations including to the face, a broken arm, and several other injuries.

London, Ontario police are treating this as a hate crime and have issued a warrant for Alex Myros, a footballer who has been described as a hero. Myros played football for the London Silverbacks. On 21 June, Myros and his team helped rescue the children of PGA golfer Chris Smith when his wife’s SUV blew a tire, crossed the median and slammed into a bus carrying the team. Smith’s wife, the driver of the SUV, did not survive the accident.

Myros was let go from the team on 1 September. Team owner Al Lazar stated that he was shocked to hear that Myros was wanted in relation to the attack on Wright. “He’s always been a good member of the team and we were certainly proud of what he did in the crash. But [the anti-gay assault allegation] comes as a shock. Alex isn’t that kind of person.”

The attack is the second beating in Ontario in recent weeks. Thunder Bay resident Jake Reynard was savagely beaten by eight men on 4 September and is still recovering.