The murder of a shirtless dancer and a reported member of the LGBT community at a New York City gas station Saturday night is being investigated as a potential hate crime.
The New York Daily News reported 28-year-old Sibley O’Shae was dancing with his friends at the Midwood Mobil gas station in Brooklyn at around 11 p.m. ET when he was confronted by a group of Muslim men.
The men had reportedly taken issue with the behavior of O’Shae and his friends, all of who were members of a “queer” professional dancing group, according to the Daily News.
The Muslim men reportedly confronted the victim and his friends after witnessing O’Shae dancing in a pair of swim trunks at a gas pump on what was one of the city’s hottest days of the year.
He was eventually stabbed to death by one of the offended Muslim men, per the report.
According to the newspaper, the victim used dancing as a way to promote his LGBT advocacy.
Police have the stabbing and the altercation that led up to it on video.
WCBS-TV, which obtained some of the footage, reported the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the killing.
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No one has been arrested in the murder and the department has not said if it has a suspect.
The gas station was closed down for the duration of Saturday evening while the neighborhood was noted for being relatively safe.
One of O’Shae’s friends told the outlet the late dancer was “beautiful” and “fun-loving.”
“He was just a fun-loving, beautiful person, like energetic,” one friend who did not wish to be identified told WCBS.
The person added, “He was very protective of his family, like all he promoted was just love.”
After calling the killing “ridiculous” the friend added, “[O’Shae] wasn’t a part of no gangs. Like, he was out here, it was a night of fun.”
A witness who was described as a delivery driver described what he said he saw in the moments after the stabbing.
Zafar Safaroe told WCBS, “I came over and checked and they said, ‘Back off, back off, there’s someone dead.’”
