Anti-Gay Attack Victim Files Lawsuit Against Alleged Hasidic Attackers

A gay black man who was attacked in Brooklyn last year filed a civil lawsuit Monday against the five men who are charged with the beating, the New York Daily News reports.

A group of Hasidic men reportedly attacked Taj Patterson, a 22-year-old fashion student at New York City College of Technology, around 4 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2013 in Williamsburg as he was coming home from a party.

Patterson suffered a fractured eye socket and a torn retina. The vigilantes were looking for a suspect who had vandalized cars in the area, according to the newspaper. The student is suing the five men indicted on gang assault charges.

"The family wants justice for Taj both criminally and civilly," his lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said according to the NY Daily News.

The suit was filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court and seeks unspecified damages for the student's injuries. It also accuses the volunteer safety group, Shomrim, of negligence.

George Farkas, the lawyer for defendant Abraham Winkler said, "There's more to this than meets the eye."

Earlier this year, four Hasidic men were arrested for the attack against Patterson. During the attack, Patterson said the men kicked him in the face while a man yelled, "stay down, faggot. Stay the fuck down."

Patterson admitted he couldn't remember much from the incident, however.

"A group with some sort of uniform jacket with a logo may have been involved," NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the newspaper.