«"He suddenly arrived in his car. He braked, got out, and ran toward us. He had a baseball bat. He hit me in a flurry. One cut to the head of my Brazilian friend, one to my arm, a blow to the shoulder of another.. So we ran away." The 19-year-old gay man was scared, one of the four boys beaten Thursday night by "a heterosexual man of about 40 years old" in front of the historic "Alibi" nightclub in Testaccio.
Why do you think it struck you?
«He hit us with hate, That's all I can say. Thursday nights at the Alibi are called "Gloss." It's a mixed night, with us gays and lots of straight guys. Some of them really provoked us on the way out. We fought back, and a fight broke out. It seemed like everything was over when that guy we'd never seen before showed up.
Maybe a friend of the boys who provoked you?
«Maybe because he came directly to us. I was with two Brazilian friends of mine, both in their twenties, who are dancers, and another friend my age. It's clear we're gay. I don't think he meant to hit anyone else.».
Did you run away immediately?
«"One dancer had already taken a taxi because he was very scared after the fight. There were three of us when that guy arrived. Another dancer and I took refuge in a bar. The other dancer's head was bleeding, but we immediately saw that the wound wasn't serious. But the guy with the bat chased us, only they didn't let him into the bar.".
Did someone help you then…
«I wouldn't say they helped us exactly. Especially during the fight and after when that madman arrived, nobody lifted a finger.. The disconcerting thing is that even the security guards remained still, while he was beating us they didn't intervene, not to say to defend us but at least to stop him.".
Who was hurt the most?
«"One of the Brazilian dancers, the one who got hit on the head. But none of us went to the hospital, we weren't too sick physically, we were lucky; if he had hit us on the temple, we could have been killed. But it was a huge scare.".