Hamilton woman speaks out after alleged hate-motivated attack

A Hamilton woman who was the victim of an unprovoked hate-motivated attack in downtown Hamilton last week, is asking help from the public while she recovers.

“He kept calling me a ‘dyke’ over and over and over again, before the physical altercation,” said Desiree Costello. “He kept screaming ‘dyke’ in my face multiple times.”

Costello, 35, said she was assaulted last Saturday night on Augusta Street, after a confrontation with an intoxicated 28-year-old man.

“I was originally hit in the side of the head right here, where he broke my glasses the first time and then the second attack — my entire head, he was pulling my hair so hard that he pulled a dreadlock right off my head. For like, two days, I couldn’t move my neck without moving my whole body.”

That 28-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault by Hamilton police, and are investigating the attack as a hate-motivated crime.

“During the assault we have information that the suspect in this for the accused, uttered some slurs towards the victim,” said Hamilton Police Staff Sgt. Ryan Hashimoto. “Those slurs were anti — to us — LGBTQ2SIAA+ community.”

READ MORE: Hamilton man charged following downtown hate-motivated assault

Hamilton police say they are seeing a rise in hate-motivated crime, but exact numbers from this year and last are not yet available.

“You always look at things like there’s certain geopolitical issues going on in the world that can increase hate,” said Hashimoto. “We also see and know that our hate-crime investigators are out doing presentations and to try to get more people to report, because we know that hate-crime, even though it’s highly reported, is still something that is under-reported.”

As for Costello, she’s looking for community support and has started a GoFundMe page, which can be found here.

She says due to her injuries, trauma, and broken glasses, she’s been forced to take time off work, which has affected her income.

“It’s a reality check to actually be a part of something like that, because you don’t really know what it’s like until you’re a part of that target,” said Costello. “It’s scary, it’s sad — just because of the way I looked, he judged me and he doesn’t even know who I am.”

“You know, he doesn’t know that I may not even be a part of that community, just because of the way I look,” said Costello.

Officers are asking anyone who is the victim of a hate crime or is a witness of one, to report it by calling police or by reporting it online through the police website.

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