A Milford, Massachusetts man was removed from a state beach in Rhode Island after repeatedly shouting anti-LGBTQ slurs to a gay couple, to others on the beach, and to a police officer. He was later issued a no-trespassing order for one year along with citations for his disorderly and hateful behavior.
Reports the Boston Globe:
Osama S. Aziz, 25, of Milford, was issued citations by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Environmental Police for disorderly conduct and alcohol possession on state property in the June 5 incident — first reported by WJAR on Wednesday — at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, according to a police report.
Officer Kory Bannon wrote he was patrolling the beach when he received a report that a group of men were consuming alcohol “and directing homophobic slurs toward a gay couple who had walked by.”
Sonia Torres, who was at the beach that day with a friend, said Thursday the couple — two men — walked by and, unprovoked, were subjected to a barrage of comments, including statements such as “[Expletive] are ruining our country,” “That’s disgusting,” and “Nobody wants to see that.”
“It’s just disgusting behavior,” said Torres, 32. “I’ve personally never seen anything like it.”
Bannon wrote that as he approached the group of five men, he saw empty nip bottles and beer cans.
“When I addressed the issue of the homophobic slurs, Osama Aziz loudly stated, ‘I can’t say to my boy, I [expletive] hate [expletive],” Bannon wrote.
Aziz and two others in the group “continued to be argumentative and were slow to comply with orders,” according to Bannon. The group was then directed to pack up their belongings and walk to the parking lot, Bannon wrote.
“As Aziz began walking off the beach, he started yelling at other patrons and making additional homophobic slurs,” Bannon wrote. “Aziz loudly proclaimed, ‘Don’t stand with the [expletive], they are ruining our nation,’ and ‘The [expletive] are ruining our country.’”
Torres recorded a brief video of Aziz being handcuffed and posted it on Facebook. The clip had received more than 4,000 reactions and over 1,400 comments, and had been shared more than 200 times as of Thursday.
In the video, Aziz can be heard saying, “They’re ruining our country, man. You have no morals.” A few beachgoers cheer and applaud as Aziz is placed in handcuffs.
Two other individuals were issued citations for possession of alcohol on state property and they, along with Aziz, were given no-trespass orders for the beach for one year, according to officials.
Aziz could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday. According to Bannon’s report, he was issued fines totaling more than $200, and is not required to appear in court.
Recalling the incident, Torres said she was “kind of shocked that people are so blatantly … comfortable with just saying something like that.” People can easily be recorded in public and end up in videos posted on the internet, she noted.
