Niagara police investigate possible hate motive in St. Catharines assault

The LGBTQ community in the Niagara area believes a brutal weekend assault of a man in downtown St. Catharines may be a hate crime, and Niagara police are investigating.

A woman has been arrested in connection with the Saturday night beating on St. Paul Street near Bond Street, and another person is wanted by the authorities.

Victim Carson McCoy is part of the LGBTQ+ community in St. Catharines. His mother tells CHCH News that he was ambushed while on a night out with friends.

“I don’t know why they’re doing this to him. He’s not fighting back, he did not fight back at all,” cries Lisa McCoy as she watches a video of her 25-year-old son being beaten on a sidewalk.

“He just laid there while they continued to beat him,” says McCoy.

Lisa says Carson was beaten until he was unconscious. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

“He had a cone on and his face was all swollen black and blue. I tried not to cry, but I did, and he cried, and I hugged him and just told him it would be okay,” says McCoy.

Niagara police say the incident happened after a verbal altercation turned physical.

Forty-one-year-old Samantha Jacobs of St. Catharines was arrested at the scene. She is charged with assault causing bodily harm.

Officers are looking for a second male suspect.

Detectives with the Criminal Investigations Bureau are looking into whether the incident may be hate-motivated.

Pride Niagara believes it was.

“From the community it’s just outrage and shock. I think it’s so clear if you see any of the footage. You can have a disagreement with someone, but when you take it that next step to actually physically assault someone to the point where you’re leaving them unconscious on the street, that’s hate,” says Enzo De Divitiis, Pride Niagara chair.

Niagara police say they are aware of several social media posts in regard to the incident and the motives surrounding it.

Police say they continue to investigate the accuracy of the information.

For now, Lisa is left wondering, “Why her son?”

“Whatever the motivation was … there were three of them. They jumped him from behind. He didn’t stand a chance,” says McCoy.

Carson is a full-time student at Niagara College and works part-time, but his road to recovery will be difficult.

A GoFundMe page has been created for Carson and his family.

“He had sustained two facial fractures and his eye muscles are entrapped within the bone fractures as well, so we see a specialist — a plastic surgeon — tomorrow, awaiting surgery. I just wish this wasn’t happening. I wish everybody could be accepted for who and what they are, and people would leave other people alone and let people live their life,” says McCoy.

Niagara police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or have video footage, to come forward.

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