When a gay man kissed his boyfriend inside a Washington, D.C., Shake Shack while they were waiting for their order, he said that some workers hit him.
The event happened Saturday night in Dupont Circle, where Christian Dingus, 28, was with his partner and a group of friends, he told NBC News. They had placed their order and were now just waiting for their food.
“And while we were back there, for a short time, we started to kiss,” Dingus said. “A worker then came over to us and told us that we couldn’t be doing that here. We couldn’t do that kind of thing here.”
Dingus said the couple broke up, but his partner got mad at the worker and said the men hadn’t done anything wrong. Then, Dingus’ partner was reportedly led out of the restaurant, where a heated fight took place.
He said that the workers who went outside turned to him when he supported his partner and told them not to talk to his boyfriend that way.
Dingus said, “Then one of the men pushed me out of the way pretty hard on my shoulder.” “Then, the next thing I knew, I think that sparked the rest of them. At that point, they all started attacking me, pulling me back through the floor and punching me in the head over and over again.”
A customer at Shake Shack allegedly recorded the attack and later gave it to Dingus. The video seems to show a man being pushed while two others in black Shake Shack T-shirts punch him in the head. It’s not clear what happens after two more people show up, also wearing Shake Shack shirts.
From inside the diner, the 30-second clip was shot through windows. The video doesn’t show what happened before the claimed assault, and it doesn’t have the sound of the men outside.
He said, “There was a desire to be violent toward me, and I think that film makes that very clear.”
He curled up on the ground to protect himself and said he didn’t know who stopped the attack. He said that a woman who was a customer there came out to help him and that someone who had recorded the attack gave him a video of it, which was then shared online.
After the attack, he saw police officers nearby, but Dingus said they weren’t there until after the attack was over. Dingus later told cops about what happened.
A copy of the police report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department says that the case is being looked into as a hate crime and that Dingus’s crime was classed as a simple assault with an anti-gay bias.
An officer wrote in the paper that Dingus said he was attacked by several people and that an unknown suspect said he was protecting himself when Dingus put his hands on the person’s neck.
A Shake Shack representative said that the team members involved have been suspended until the situation is looked into further. The spokesman also said that the company is working with the police.
A spokesperson said in a statement Sunday, “We are aware of the incident that happened on Saturday, August 17 at our Dupont Circle location involving team members and a guest and are taking it very seriously.”
An employee of the company also said that they are “committed to taking the appropriate actions” based on what the investigation found.
Dingus said that he went to the emergency room soon after the claimed attack and was told that he had a concussion and damage to his jaw. He also said that the side of his face was swollen and hurt.
People say that Dupont Circle is gay-friendly, and it is one of Washington’s most famous and stylish neighborhoods. Destination DC, a group that promotes the city’s tourist spots, even includes places in Dupont Circle in its guide to the “Best LGBTQ+-Friendly Weekend.”
Dingus no longer feels safe after what happened, and he wants those responsible to be held responsible.
“I feel like I stopped believing that this stuff happened, even though I hear it all the time, right?” Dingus spoke up. “I’ve been thinking about how far we’ve come and how great this community is. It kind of stinks that all of that has been upset.”