Man jailed after using fake Grindr account to physically assault gay man

Man jailed after using fake Grindr account to physically assault gay man

A Texas man has been convicted of hate crime charges and sentenced to 15 years’ jail after using Grindr to carry out a homophobic assault.

Nigel Garrett and three other men used a fake profile on the hookup app to meet the victim, Pink News has reported.

When they arrived at his home, armed with a gun, they overcame him and restrained him with tape, physically assaulting him and using homophobic slurs.

The men robbed the victim, leaving with valuables including a motor vehicle.

Texas has no hate crime laws protecting gay people, meaning Garrett faced a federal hate crime conviction.

The four men were charged with conspiring to cause bodily injury because of the victims’ sexual orientation in four separate home invasions between January and February.

The other men pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

“Violence, in any form, is an affront to the American principles of freedom and safety that our communities are entitled to,” said acting US Attorney Brit Featherston.

“The Department of Justice has made prosecution of violent crime a priority. The Eastern District of Texas, in prosecuting this case and others like it, intends to demonstrate that this priority is something more than just a slogan.”

In Australia, two Perth men pleaded guilty in November to a string of assaults on gay men they had lured using Grindr.

A Canberra teen was jailed in September for his role in an extortion ring, meeting men using the app and then demanding money not to accuse them of paedophilia.

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