Detroit Man Charged In Murder/Robbery Used Grindr To Find Victims

A Detroit man has been arrested in the assault and murder of two gay men.

According to DetroitNews.com, Demetris Nelson used the gay dating app, Grindr, to find and contact his victims.

Demetris Nelson, 26, was charged Friday in 36th District Court in Detroit with several crimes, including first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to rob while armed and felony firearm possession, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison for the murder charge.

A magistrate ordered him held without bail and scheduled a probable cause hearing for July 26 and a preliminary examination into the case for Aug. 2.

Police say Nelson shot and killed Brian Anderson, 31, and shot and critically wounded Malcom Drake, 26, both of Detroit, last Saturday during an attempted robbery.

Prosecutors allege he shot them because they are gay and used a social networking app to locate the two victims.

Detroit Police Investigate Viral Video Of Man Pulling Gun On Gay Man

(image via JMG)

From the Detroit Free Press:

A viral video of a man shouting slurs and pointing a gun at another man he believed was gay as he exited a convenience store on Detroit’s west side has sparked outrage and is being investigated by police, an official confirmed Wednesday.

“We are aware of it,” said Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody. “It was sent to us and we have opened up an investigation on behalf of the victim, although the victim did not come forward. We are investigating it. Obviously, it’s very troubling that anyone would feel comfortable enough to point a weapon at anyone and post it on social media for everyone to see and attacking and singling out a person … regardless of how they identify is outrageous.”

The 32-second video was initially posted at 8:16 p.m. Tuesday and shows a man sitting in a car at the Brightmoor Liquor store, at 22002 Lyndon St., uttering gay slurs. When the second man walks out of the convenience store, the man in the car shouts “Yo” at him to get his attention. The man ignores him initially, but as he passes the window of the car, the man in the car points a gun at him at the 22-second mark of the video while saying, “Take those pants off, bro. What the f–k you on?”

(h/t JMG)

Lawsuit: Detroit Woman Kicked Out Of Restaurant Bathroom For Looking 'Like A Man'

Cortney Bogorad, while having dinner at restaurant chain Fishbone's Rhythm City Cafe in Detroit, was making use of the bathroom facilities when she heard yelling outside the door. A voice, that turned out to be a security guard, was demanding that "whatever man is in the restroom needs to come out now." Being a woman, Bogorad ignored him.

And that's where things escalated.

From The Advocate:

The guard allegedly entered the bathroom yelling, "This is a woman's bathroom, if you are a man, come out!" and pulled Bogorad by the arms out of the stall when she opened its door. She said he then pushed her up against the wall, saying "boys aren't allowed in this restroom," according to the Detroit Free Press.

"He was much bigger than me, at least three times my size," Bogorad told WXYZ. In her lawsuit, she explained that she and a friend informed the man repeatedly that she was a woman, and offered to show her legal identification stating that she was female, but the guard refused to see it, instead shouting inches from her face, "Get out of the women's restroom!"

According to Bogorad, the guard then pushed her out of the bathroom where she saw a person she thought might be a restaurant manager. When Bogorad tried to explain to the man that she was a woman and show him her ID, she said he, too, ignored her efforts to prove her identity.

The guard allegedly then took his security badge, and holding it just inches from Bogorad's face, yelled that he was a security guard.

When Bogorad pushed the badge away, that's when she said the guard picked her up "against my will" by the shirt and bra. He then "aggressively" pushed her to the restaurant's front door, exposing her "upper torso" to other customers, and threw her out of the resturant onto the street outside, causing physical injuries, Bogorad said.

Her lawsuit, filed at Wayne County Circuit Court on June 10, is seeking $25,000 for physical and emotional damages, battery, and gross negligence.

"This could have happened to anybody," Bogorad told WXYZ. "There's lots of females out there who look like boys, but at the end of the day we're not." She added that she is suing in hopes that the same humiliating experience never happens again to another customer at a Fishbone's.

Fishbone's has declined to publicly comment on Bogorad's allegations.

Many states have attempted to pass "bathroom bills" that could lead to many more situations just like this in an attempt to police gender specific bathrooms.