A 23-year-old Brooklyn man was indicted this week for allegedly taking part in a bias attack in Ridgewood.
Joseph Desmond was charged by the Queens District Attorney with second-degree assault as a hate crime, second-degree assault, second-degree aggravated harassment and second-degree harassment relating to the alleged attack.
According to the DA’s office, on September 25 just after 8 p.m., Desmond allegedly walked up to the victim, who was standing at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Fairview Avenue, and called him an anti-gay slur. He then shocked him with a taser to the torso and then fled in an unknown direction. The victim, who was also 23 years old, called police and they found and arrested Desmond in a courtyard of a building near where it took place.
Queens DA Richard Brown said that hate crimes, like the one Desmond is accused of doing, will not be tolerated in Queens.
“When they do, regrettably, occur, they will be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” he said in a statement. “Every person has the right to feel safe to walk the streets without being harassed or assaulted based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.”
