Homophobe Attacks Tourists in Miami Beach: One Fights Back With Knife

A young Alabama man stabbed a man who attacked him and his friends while hurling homophobic slurs at them in Miami Beach, Fla., this week, according to TV station WSVN.

The 18-year-old from Mobile, Ala., had been taking photos and videos with friends Monday morning when the 24-year-old Glenford Rhule Jr. attacked them, reports AL.com.

The victims told WSVN that Rhule started hurling homophobic insults at them.

"'Are you gay? Ugh, I don't like gay people,'" the victims quoted Rhule as saying. "He ended up spitting at me, and then, that's when he threw the beer at me."

The Alabama teen said that Rhule eventually hit him. The teen then noticed a knife on the ground.

"I just saw something shiny on the ground, and I just stuck him with it," the young man said. He stabbed Rhule on his left side, he said.

Nearby cameras then show Rhule take out the knife and chase after the group of friends.

The rest of the incident was caught on surveillance cameras at a local hotel where the men fled from the attacker.

"It looked like a knife in his hand," Sherbrooke Hotel owner Mitch Novick told the outlet. "People were turning around with fear in their eyes."

Miami Beach Police officers arrived on the scene, eventually arresting Rhule, who was taken to a hospital before being detained at a correctional center.

According to Miami-Dade police records, Rhule has been charged with three counts of battery.

"It's a hate crime," claimed one of the friends of the 18-year-old. "You know, no one should be treated like that."

The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has said it has submitted the case to the hate crimes division.