Video footage of a high school student in Alexandria, Indiana, being attacked and beaten in the boy’s locker room was widely circulated among students and even sent to the boy’s mother.
The reason for the attack? Being gay.
Speaking to local NBC affiliate WTHR the young man said, “I’m not ok, but I will be.”
The assault took place following gym class after he’d gotten dressed
“The guy who attacked me was standing next to my locker and wouldn’t stop staring at me, so I had a weird feeling that something was about to happen,” the student told WTHR.
What ‘happened’ was the student began shoving the teen.
“He kept pushing me, but then he stopped pushing me and everything got quiet, so I thought he walked out,” said the young man.
But the attacker didn’t leave, he’d merely paused before he began punching his victim.
“I felt him punch me a couple more times and I got hit my face on the mirror and then he punched me in the head twice,” said the student.
“It happened so fast. I can remember them holding me against the wall,” he added, explaining that two other students helped restrain him so he couldn’t fight back.
The boy says he knows who his alleged attackers are and that they’d teased him before about being openly gay.
“I’ve gotten so used to it over the years that it doesn’t phase me much,” he said.
Eventually, another student stepped in and stopped the assault. When the teen’s mother took him to the hospital he was told his nose was broken.
“I just tell myself to forget what happened and try to act like it never happened,” he said.
School officials and Alexandria police both say they are investigating the incident.
The alleged victim calls what happened a hate crime and has a message for others students targeted because of their sexuality.
His parents say they’re not going to let what happened to their son get swept under a rug. They’ve been told by school officials that two of the students involved have been expelled, but WTHR was unable to confirm that.