Lawyers for Philly Gay Bashers Cry Self Defense

The chips are beginning to fall for the gang allegedly involved in the brutal beating of two gay men in Philadelphia last week, as a flimsy cries of self-defense emerge and, one member of the alleged gang gets fired from his position as a high school basketball coach.

A lawyer for one of the members of the "clean cut" hate gang allegedly involved in last week's Center City gay bashing is claiming that it was the victims who initiated the fight and that his client acted in self defense.

So far, four members of the gang of 12 to 15 young white men and women involved in last week's assault have turned themselves into Philadelphia police for questioning. One of their lawyers told NBC Philadelphia that it was the victims who threw the first punch. According to the victims, who have suffered injuries including a black eye and a jaw that needed to be wired shut, this is not true.

"Everything they're going through, to add onto their emotional burden an additional burden of saying 'well, you started it' is very shocking to me. This is not necessarily a surprise." Caryn Kunkle, a friend of the victims told NBC Philadelphia.

NBC Philadelphia also learned that members of the group were alumni of Archbishop Wood Catholic School in Warmister, Pa. One of the persons of interest involved in the assault, who was the assistant basketball coach at the school has been fired.

"He was not a teacher at the school but serving as a coach on a contract basis. He was terminated this evening and will not be permitted to coach in any Archdiocesan school,"A spokesperson from the school said. "We expect all those who work with students in our schools to model appropriate Christian behavior at all times."

Upon learning the identity of the group of assailants on Wednesday, the school issued the following statement.

Earlier today, Archbishop Wood High School became aware that some of its former students were allegedly involved in the assault of two men in Center City last week. This afternoon, administrators communicated with the entire Archbishop Wood school community to make it emphatically clear that the school does not, under any circumstances, tolerate or condone the violent and hateful behavior displayed by those who took part in this senseless attack.
�
Administration also stressed that Catholic schools are centers of learning where students are expected to treat each other in a Christ-like manner at all times and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. The actions of those who took part in the attack are reprehensible and entirely unacceptable. They are not an accurate reflection of our Catholic values or of Archbishop Wood High School.

As reported by EDGE , the identity of the preppy hate gang was discovered through the efforts of crowd-sourcing and an internet sleuth with the Twitter handle @FanSince09.

According to the Philly Police blog, on September 11, 2014, at 10:45 pm, two white males, aged 26 and 28, were on the 1600 block of Chancellor Street when they were approached by a group of unknown white males and females. As the group approached the complainants they started saying anti-gay slurs at the pair. According to NBC Philadelphia, the victims say someone in the group asked whether they were a couple. When they told them yes, the group allegedly began to attack them, punching and kicking them in the face, head and chest.??"Three guys were on me taking turns on me,"�said the 26-year-old victim. "I had three, four guys on me. I turned around and saw his (my boyfriend's) head hit the ground, like hard,"�said the 28-year-old victim. "I was horrified. I thought he was dead."

During the assault one of the victims dropped his bag containing his cell phone, wallet and credit cards. When police approached, one of the suspects picked the bag up from the ground. The group then fled and were last seen north on 16th Street towards Walnut Street.

Both victims were transported to Hahnemann Hospital for multiple injuries. One of the men was treated for fractures and deep lacerations to his face requiring surgery and his jaw wired shut.