Have You Seen This Homophobe? Salt Lake City Asks For Help

UPDATE (1:45pm): Local police have identified that assailant and say he is "fully cooperating" into their investigations. No charges have been filed yet.

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Salt Lake Police want help identifying a man captured on video striking a gay man.

Sal Trejo, a gay man living in Salt Lake City, posted a short video of a man confronting him downtown on Sunday evening.

"Are you gay though?" the man asks. Trejo responds "I am." After the man states "Oh then you are gay," the video shows him throwing a punch toward the camera and physically knocking it away.

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports the man struck Trejo in his right hand.

Trejo later put an extended statement on his Twitter account giving a full description of the encounter.

"My friends and I were assaulted by an intoxicated man last night as we left a bar in downtown SLC. It started with him approaching us out of the blue and making homophobic and misogynistic comments towards our group," Trejo wrote.

"We started recording him and asked him to leave, he wouldn't, and then went on to hit me and shove one of our girlfriends. At this point we became verbally aggressive to protect ourselves. We called the police immediately. He then pulled out a knife and pointed it towards us while continuing to call us faggots.

"He eventually ran off, got into his car (in his intoxicated state) and drove on the light-rail tracks until he sped off away from Main Street. This man is dangerous and needs to be held accountable for his actions."

Trejo said the man drove off in what looked like a 2007 BMW X5.

Individuals also reached out to Trejo confirming they saw the man near the London Belle night club.

The Salt Lake City Police Department shared the video on their own social media and asked anyone who could provide information on the case to call 801-799-3000.

State Sen. Derek Kitchen, an out lawmaker, cited the incident in calling for Utah to pass hate crime legislation that includes sexuality.

Equality Utah, the state-wide LGBTQ rights organization, also put out a statement supporting Trejo. "No one should be attacked simply because of who they are. We will work with Sal and law enforcement to ensure that justice prevails," the group said.