Police: DC LGBT Center Vandalized, Staffer Assaulted in Possible Hate Crime

A Washington, D.C.-area LGBT youth center was vandalized by a visitor who assaulted a staffer Sunday, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report obtained by DCist.

The suspect walked into Casa Ruby and had a verbal fight with an employee, the report says. The incident escalated and became violent when the suspect approached the staffer and hit her in the forehead with his finger. The suspect then picked up a bar of soap and threw it at her. As he left, the suspect threw a brick through the center's front door and kicked it.

"I'll kill your mother fucking ass. Ya'll tranny motherfuckers think somebody won't fuck ya'll up," the suspect said, according to the police report.

Ruby Corado, Casa Ruby's executive director and founder, told the DCist this is the third incident the non-profit has faced in the last two weeks.

"Unfortunately we've seen a pattern that people begin with threats and then deliver on their promises," she said. "I used to get a lot of threats. Now they're showing up here."

Two weeks ago a man came into the center and initially seemed friendly. But he started making sexual advances to some of the youth, Corado told DCist. She says when they didn't respond to him, the man "went crazy and he punched a hole in the wall. The man was arrested but "last week he came back and punched another hole in the wall."

Corado says the man from Sunday's incident was different.

"This one was more of a bully," she told the website.

Police told Corado they are looking for the suspects but have yet released information about him. DCist notes the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, according to the police report.

The cost to repair Casa Ruby is about $2,000, Corado says. She also plans to get a security guard to watch the center.

You can donate to the Casa Ruby via its website by clicking here.