Bed-Stuy man charged with hate crime in knife attack

August 28, 2019 Noah Goldberg

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A Bedford-Stuyvesant man was arraigned Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and assault as a hate crime for allegedly attacking a couple after telling them “I don’t like gay people.”

Emmanuel Dash allegedly harassed the couple — a man and his gender non-conforming partner — inside their apartment building on Malcolm X Boulevard around 6 a.m. on June 22. Dash went up to different apartments in the building and knocked on people’s doors looking for the couple, prosecutors said.

“I’m glad I know where you live, because I don’t like gay people,” Dash said when he found the couple’s apartment, according to the Brooklyn district attorney.

After the gender non-conforming person opened the door, Dash threatened them with a knife. They closed the door and Dash left the building.

Later, the couple went to look for Dash to speak with him, because they recognized him from the neighborhood, according to prosecutors. As the couple returned to their home from the street, Dash allegedly charged at them with a knife and began to attack. The male partner was stabbed in the back of the neck while trying to enter the apartment building, according to the DA. His wound was about six inches long, and partially severed his vertebral artery.

The defendant fled the scene and the victim’s partner called 911.

Dash was arrested more than a month later, on July 24. He was arraigned in front of Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun Wednesday and is being held on $40,000 bail.

“This defendant allegedly violated the sanctity and safety of this couple’s home when he showed up at their door spewing hate, then escalated it to a violent assault,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “There is no place for such ignorance and intolerance in Brooklyn, where we celebrate our diversity. We will now seek to hold this defendant accountable for this very serious attack.”

Dash’s next court date is Oct. 23.