Philadelphia Gay-Bashing: Affidavit of Probable Cause Released

(L to R) Kevin Harrigan; Kathryn Knott; Philip Williams

According to recently released court documents regarding the violent gay bashing in Center City two weeks ago, the victims were punched and repeatedly called "faggots" by the three charges suspects.

It should be noted that nowhere in the report is there any mention that the three acted in "self-defense."

From PhillyMag.com:

Now that Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams have been charged with the crime, an affidavit of probable cause describing the incident has been made available by the court.

According to that document, the incident began when "words were exchanged" between the two groups of people, with suspect Kevin Harrigan allegedly calling the victims "faggots" several times before a "heated argument developed." The affidavit also alleges that Knott screamed "faggots" at them and hit one of them in the face.

See the affidavit below. Here is a transcript of the affidavit:

On September 11, 2014, at approximately 10:45PM, Conplainant #s 1 and 2 were walking east on the 1600 block of Chancellor Street when they encountered a large group of males and females who were walking north on 16th Street. Words were exchanged between the two groups and one male in the second group, later identified as Kevin Harrigan, called the complainants "faggots" several times. A heated argument developed and, during the resulting altercation, another member of the second group, later identified as Philip Williams, punched Complainant #1 in the face an undetermined number of times, causing Complainant #1 to fall to the ground. Complainant #2 approached Williams and Williams punched Complainant #2 in the face, also causing him to fall. The second group then left the area north on 16th Street.

Complainant #1 was transported to Hahnemann Hospital with extensive injuries to his face, including a broken orbital bone, a broken jaw and a deep laceration that required twenty-four stitches to close. Complainant #2 suffered injuries to his face that did not require hospital treatment.

Video was recovered from the surrounding area that showed the second group in its entirety. That video was aired on local news programs and on social media. As a result, the whole group was identified. Photo arrays containing individual photos of that group were shown to the complainants and several witnesses. Kevin Harrigan was identified by both complainants as initiating the incident and calling the complainants "faggots". Complainant #2 also identifies Harrigan as striking him during the physical altercation.

Both complainants positively identified Philip Williams through photo arrays. Williams was identified by Complainant #2 as punching him. Williams was identified by Complainant #1 as being part of the group and being one of the "main aggressors".

Another member of the group, Kathryn Knott, was positively identified by Complainant #1, after viewing a photo array, as calling them "faggots". Complainant #2 identified Kathryn Knott from the video as screaming "faggots" at both complainants and striking Complainant #2 in the face. A witness at the scene who was interviewed by detectives further positively identified Knott from a photo array as striking Complainant #2.