Maryland woman arrested for assaulting gay man in grocery store faces hate crime charges

“Just got hate crimed in the grocery store," the man wrote in the video's caption. He wrote in a follow up post, "All jokes aside this was a very traumatic experience for me. I do not believe in hitting women and refused to let her take me that far out of my character."

"For those wondering why I chose to record instead of immediately calling the police or reacting, it was because the situation could have easily been misrepresented and turned into a narrative that portrayed me as the perpetrator," he added. "I needed evidence to protect myself. Had I immediately reacted, the conversation would be very different. Life go though."

Officers arrived after a 9-1-1 call was placed reporting a fight inside the store, prompting Colbert to flee in her vehicle as they attempted to detain her, according to the police report. Colbert was identified and apprehended with the help of authorities in Maryland, and taken into custody on January 8. She is currently at the Prince George’s County Jail awaiting extradition to Alexandria.

The case is the first to be investigated under the APD's new hate crime and bias-incident policy, developed over the past year in coordination with civil rights groups. The policy formally codifies standards and oversight to ensure identification, documentation, and follow-up in every case.

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes remain high despite a drop in violent crime overall in the U.S., according to an August report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with 2,278 single-bias hate crimes based on sexual orientation and 527 based on gender identity.

“This collaboration focused on providing input during the development of the policy; helping align definitions with the Virginia Code, clarifying standards for identifying and documenting bias incidents, and strengthening expectations for oversight and accountability," Darrilyn Franklin, President of the NAACP Alexandria Branch, said in a statement. "The goal was to create a transparent framework that builds community trust and ensures every incident is addressed with the seriousness it deserves.”