2 Charged for Hate Crime Attack in Seattle

Two men in Seattle face felony hate-crime charges for an attack outside a local community center.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Adnan Basher Osman, 22 and Abdinasir A. Ahmed, 21, are accused of beating and yelling antigay epithets at a man who was walking with friends near of the Filipino Community Center on January 3. Police said the victim, whose name was not released, later said he heard Ahmed saying he planned to kill him because he is gay. The victim, who is Somali, told police he has stopped going to services at his mosque out of fear, because being gay is so taboo in his culture.

Osman and Ahmed are charged with malicious harassment under Washington State's hate-crimes law. Neither of them is in custody at the moment, according to jail records.