O’Shae Sibley, who was fatally stabbed on July 29 following an argument over his dancing at a Brooklyn gas station, has a 17-year-old accused of murder.
The group stopped at a gas station in the Midwood district that night as Mr. Sibley, a gay male and professional dancer and choreographer, traveled from New Jersey to his home in Brooklyn with four companions, according to the police on Saturday.
According to officials, they started dancing while playing Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album while they filled up their car. A group of males then allegedly arrived and ordered them to stop.
The arrest was announced during a news conference with Mayor Eric Adams, and Assistant Chief of the New York Police Department’s Detective Bureau Joseph Kenny remarked, “We can see on the video the heated verbal dispute quickly turns physical.”
Mr. Kenny claimed that the guys hurled homophobic epithets and anti-Black remarks at Mr. Sibley, who was Black, and his companions, all while ordering them to cease dancing.
Mr. Kenny said that, aside from the defendant, onlookers served as “peacemakers,” and the individuals yelling at Mr. Sibley’s group started to disperse.
Video of the four-minute-long confrontation shows the youngster stabbing Mr. Sibley once in the chest, “damaging his heart,” according to Mr. Kenny.
The adolescent, according to a witness, then hopped into a Toyota Highlander and took off. Mr. Sibley was brought to Maimonides Medical Center, where that evening he was declared dead.
According to Mr. Kenny, the police discovered the Brooklyn-dwelling adolescent earlier this week using surveillance footage and a collaborative effort with other local agencies.
According to Mr. Kenny, the suspect handed himself in after making arrangements with his attorney. He is accused of criminal weapon possession as well as second-degree murder which is being prosecuted as a hate crime.
Mr. Adams stated during the press conference that Mr. Sibley’s family had been impacted by what was “clearly” a hate crime.
Mr. Adams declared, “This is a city where you are free to express yourself. And that expression shouldn’t ever come to any kind of violent conclusion.
For many others, Mr. Sibley’s killing served as a frightening and brutal reminder of the discrimination L.G.B.T.Q. person experience. Friends characterized Mr. Sibley as sociable, fun-loving, and enthusiastic about his work. It sparked a multi-day outpouring of sadness.
At the Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village pub regarded as the birthplace of the LGBT rights movement, approximately 80 mourners gathered on Thursday night.
Attendees were urged to “vogue as an act of resistance” the following night at a gathering at the Midwood Mobil station where Mr. Sibley was slain, a reference to the type of dance Mr. Sibley and his friends did.
An evening memorial service was scheduled, according to the Greenwich Village Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center. The phrase “Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley” was prominently posted on a black background on Beyoncé’s website.
A 32-year-old gas station employee named Summy Ullah reported that one of the males who approached Mr. Sibley and his pals claimed, “I’m Muslim. This is not what I want here.
At the press conference on Saturday, Mr. Adams stressed that the murder of Mr. Sibley was not proof that Muslims in New York harbor hostility for L.G.B.T.Q. persons and talked about how both groups had experienced hate crimes.
He was surrounded by leaders from the city’s homosexual and Muslim communities. He declared that the two groups “stand together against fighting any form of hate in this city.”
The NYC Center For Black Pride’s executive director, Lee Soulja Simmons, claims to have first met Mr. Sibley around six years ago while he was appearing in an Off Broadway production of Black Pride.
According to Mr. Simmons, Black gay New Yorkers were coping with his passing while simultaneously fearing hate crimes and prejudice against them due to their identities.
He said, “All Mr. Sibley was doing here was vogueing and dancing.” “He didn’t deserve to pass away in that manner.”
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