Two Halifax lesbians were brutally attacked by a mob of Muslim men believed to be from Syria.The women, Emma MacLean and Tori Hogan, were celebrating a birthday June 22 in the city’s downtown area at about 1:30 a.m. local time, when the group of about a dozen Middle Eastern men verbally accosted them with rude comments about their sexuality. Hogan told the men to back off. “Hey, watch your mouth, that's my girlfriend,” she shouted at the men as she turned to pursue them, per Saltwire. The men then began assaulting Hogan. The mob surrounded the women and pushed one to the ground while holding the other back. McClean, who suffered a broken nose, chipped tooth, and several bruises, confirmed the men were Middle Eastern and she “believed (them) to be from Syria.” She said she believes they were approximately between the ages of 18 and 24.She told CTV she saw Hogan “being pushed on the stairs right in front of the BMO Centre.”“They are cement stairs, and she's on her back — that's when all the men started punching and kicking,” she said. Hogan, who sustained a black eye and bruising on her body, was “basically flying through the air.” McLean first yelled at the attackers to stop but she was ignored, so she put one of them “in a chokehold.” “All at once they all just swarmed her and started punching and kicking her in the ribs. Then I kind of got into my fight or flight,” she said, per Saltwire. Trying to protect Hogan, she “basically jumped on one of their backs and put them in a chokehold - trying to restrain them.” .Video footage shows the group of men kicking one of the women on the ground while restraining the other. Passerby called the police, but the fight was over before they arrived. When officers spoke to the men, they blamed the women for the fight. He was the only one to give his identity to authorities. The other attackers refused, McLean said. “Clearly, they picked (Hogan) out,” said McLean.“She's a more masculine-presenting lady than I am, so I think they thought they had the go ahead — she was fair game for them,' she said.Both women play rugby and McLean has a background in martial arts. No charges have been laid against the assailants, police told CTV, but the investigation is ongoing. “(Incidents) motivated by hate toward a specific group (are taken) very seriously,” Halifax Regional Police said in a statement. Authorities noted people who “find themselves exposed to behavior that is offensive, threatening or intimidating” should report it to police. “Even if the investigation does not find criminal wrongdoing in that specific incident, it is important to have it on record as part of the collective effort to identify trends and prevent violence,” said police.
