Antigay Mob Attack Caught on Video

Video evidence shows that Joshua Esskew was attacked by a mob of at least eight young men earlier this month in Rock Hill, S.C..

The Herald of Rock Hill reports on the attack, which took place early April 9 at a convenience store just outside city limits. Esskew, 19, and his friend Da-Neshia Reid had stopped for a soda on the way home.

When Esskew entered the store, one of several young men called him a gay slur. Surveillance video shows him being hit in the head with a bottle, possibly from a 40-ounce beer, and then starting to fight back.

"It is then that Esskew is attacked by as many as eight young men," reports The Herald. "Esskew was stomped and punched and kicked as men entered the fray to get in kicks and smacks on this one man. He was left in a heap."

Esskew was beaten unconscious and hospitalized. The police report lists the crime as "assault and batter by mob, serious injury." South Carolina does not have a hate-crimes law.

The York County Sheriff's Office has made no arrests in the attack. The suspects, who number at least eight, are described as young African-American males.