Police Investigating Hate Crime after Out Model Allegedly Attacked by Mob of 'More Than Ten' Assailants

Police in Washington, D.C. are investigating a suspected hate crime after a mob of "at least ten" assailants reportedly assaulted 22-year-old model Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, hurling homophobic slurs during an unprovoked attack at a Washington, D.C. McDonald's.

NBC News reported that "Lascarro was out at the nearby queer night clubs Crush Bar and BUNKER on Saturday night [Oct. 26] before the incident."

"Before going home, Lascarro stopped at a McDonald's located across the street from the two bars. While at a self-service checkout, he decided that the restaurant was too crowded, so he canceled his order," NBC News said.

That's when the trouble began.

"When he turned around to leave, Lascarro said, he was confronted by a woman in line behind him, who remarked that he needed to say 'excuse me,'" NBC News relayed.

It was unclear from reports why the woman thought it necessary for Lascarro to apologize. For canceling his order? For being gay? Whatever the case might have been, Lascarro ignored the demand and walked toward the doors.

But a group of men aggressively moved in, blocking his exit and "insisting that he needed to apologize," the NBC News report detailed, adding: "According to the police report, Lascarro was then called a homophobic slur multiple times, including by one suspect who said: 'I'm going to teach you how to say sorry, f-----.'"

When Lascarro still refused, the group – described in reports as "at least ten" and "as many as fifteen" in number, mostly men – launched into the assault, hurling anti-LGBTQ+ slurs as they beat him. Lascarro managed to get outside, but the throng of attackers continued the beating. Left dazed and bloody on the sidewalk, Lascarro was approached by "two pedestrians who... helped him call 911," NBC News narrated.

"He was transported to Howard University Hospital to be treated," according to a police report, which also documented that the city's police "are investigating the case as a hate crime, classifying the offense as a simple assault with an anti-gay bias motivation," the writeup added.

"In an interview with NBC News, Lascarro and his husband, Stuart West, said they frequent the neighborhood, which is popular with the city's LGBTQ community," the news report said.

Lascarro told NBC News "he is having a hard time recounting the incident to his family, with whom he struggled to come out as gay."

"I feel overwhelmed by it all and lost," the account quoted Lascarro saying, before recalling that another violently homophobic attack took place at another of the city's fast food establishments last summer.

"In August, a gay man accused a group of Shake Shack employees of beating him after he kissed his boyfriend at the restaurant's location in Dupont Circle," NBC News said, "one of D.C.'s most historically LGBTQ-friendly neighborhoods."

West was not with Lascarro when the attack happened. He told the media that his husband – a legal migrant from Colombia who is a permanent U.S. resident – has suffered migraines in the aftermath of the vicious gang beating, and the trauma is affecting his ability to pursue his career.

West has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for Lascarro's expenses as he recuperates.

"Thomas was attacked by a mob who used hateful, derogatory language targeting his identity as a gay man," the page says. "Thomas is a loving, compassionate person who did not deserve this, and no one in our community should face this kind of hatred."

"Any support you can give will directly fund his medical expenses and ongoing recovery treatments," the page adds.

As of the morning of Oct. 31 the page had tallied almost one quarter of its $20,000 goal.